Audiovox to purchase the Klipsch group

[seti]

I have interested quite a few people in Klipsch, including the Heritage line, and I always encourage them to buy new if they can afford it, both to support Klipsch, and to avoid speakers that have been subtly damaged due to misuse. I enjoy letting them hear what 2 Klipschorns and a Belle in "wide stage stereo" sounds like, as well as 5.1, with Heresy surrounds. Now they do want "old large footprint and pricey (as new) Heritage line ..."

Whenever someone praises the sound at a Regal theater, I say, "Many of them use Klipsch speakers."

I think Klipsch has hit on the perfect solution to the problem of Heritage not being mass market stars: make them when they are ordered.

Given the absurd prices of many of the speakers reviewed by Stereophile ($106,800 for a pair of YG Sonja 1.3s), new Klipschorns are a bargain, and the fill an important market slot. Besides, tucked in corners, they look a lot better than YGs, and a number of other speakers. With modern tools, like room treatments, Audyssey, and the rest, they can be better than ever. It was refreshing indeed to see Sam Tellig's very positive, group A, review of La Scalas a few years ago, and Colleen Murphy's "As We See it" praise of Khorns in the current issue (August 2013).

AMEN

Let's
face it, the company has to make a product that folks want to buy and
at a price folks will pay. Beyond local "audioheads" no-one wants the
old large footprint and pricey (as new) Heritage line, when they think a
12" sub and satellites for under $500-1000 are good enough. I tried for
years to get younger friends to attend our local audio meetings with no
luck at all. The market has changed...maybe we have not. I get emails
about some of the new products. Clearly there is no marketing to compete
with Bose and BeatsAudio, but remember folks, that is where the market
and the money lies these days (please feel free to correct me if I am
incorrect). PWK never made stuff for the masses, but maybe that time has
come, Be realistic, bills have to be paid. My 2 cents....

Yer killing me here. I'm afraid I have to disagree.

YES some people do want large footprint high effeciency speakers. They still buy them. PWK made large highly effecient speakers but when he realized he needed to sell more speakers to make more money he developed other products that more people would find accessable. Things have changed but not that much. Klipsch still makes Khorns and the like but also sell the products for the masses. I would say they are very wisely even more diversified now but still the same concept. Klipsch still offers more bang for the buck than other speaker manufacturers.

[Islander]

Some people are hard to convince that there's any point in high-quality sound gear. I had a facepalm moment the other day when I was speaking to an old friend. He lives in Ontario, thousands of kilometres away, and hasn't been here since I got my Klipsch system, so he has not heard any really good systems, as far as I know.

I was telling him how he'd enjoy listening to a good system and how it would be easy for him to put together a good Klipsch-based system in Toronto. He replied that he's not an audiophile like me, and he "just likes to hear the music". Say what??? I guess the realism of the sound is irrelevant to him, as long as he can hear the basic rhythm and make out the words of the chorus.

That's "hearing the music" to him. I hope he makes it out here sometime so he can really hear the music, but meanwhile I just shake my head. That's the same kind of thinking that leads some people to say that earbuds sound better than any speakers.

People either get it or they don't.

[neo33]

I certainly don't know what the heck you're talking about!

... earbuds sound better than any speakers.

People either get it or they don't.

[nola]

With respect to Seti, Islander (I was in Vancouver in June - lovely, met my downfall in Kelowna - bought 7 bottles of wine), and the rest.

I only meant to express my feelings - basic depression (. I also wanted to let it be known how wonderful the Klipsch employees had been to all of us. The company (now AVx) also provides space and bandwidth for this forum.

I also wanted to say that topping what PWK had done in the Heritage line would be tough acoustically. Although some folks are willing to buy the old line products as new, I think they are too few to keep a company afloat for long, especially when the economy is in bad shape. Of course, I could be wrong and Neiman Marcus isn't going under anytime soon. Klipsch is not a well know brand to the masses. You do not find their products in BMWs nor most music venues. So average folks have no reason to seek out a Klipsch product. I have not been to Lone Star nor Rocky Mountain Audio Fests. Maybe those places could help gauge the high end market. However, I would think that most folks just end up at Best Buy, or similar, for audio gear. In New Orleans I do not know of anyone under 30 yo with anything better than moderate size towers or satellite/sub combos in the $1000 max range. Many of the kids of the dads in the local Audio club will have nothing to with cleaning records. They almost never attend our get togethers. Most younger folks want easily accessed digital sources with minimal complicating factors - an all in one approach. And they are the future of all of this gear. I just finished a road trip and brought back a Belle and 2 LSs. The sellers were older than me. One was computer illiterate, the other simply did not know much about Klipsch "stuff". Clearly neither party involved their kids, etc to find out about the gear. I did provide my contact info to help answer any Qs about their other speakers, as they did not know who to contact with their Qs. I basically recommended recaps for old Khorns.

I do wish the AVx KL venture success. I think the foray into headphones is good. However, I really do not expect them to have a new high end speaker product anytime soon. I also would caution those would thread crap the Klipsch and other brands for their current product lines. As stated before, bills have to be paid, even if by consumer entry level products made in China. These things stated, I see no reason why AVx KL should not embark on some higher end amplifier, crossover, accessory product / gear. However, I suspect that the return on investment might not be adequate.

Adding new horn designs, like the newer wooden types, IWATA horns, etc., might be nice to replace the K400. Nice big circular horns, even if they do not fit in an old style KH, Belle, or LS bass bin could also "spiff up" the old line. Changes in the passive crossover, or adding new active networks could be done. PWK is gone, but it might be time to rethink or re-engineer some things, while respecting the past.

[Islander]

Actually, Klipsch is fairly well known to at least some of the general public. The Heritage Series, Palladium Series and KPT lines may not be, but the lower-end and mid-range lines are available at Future Shop and Best Buy, as far as I know.

In my neighbourhood, London Drugs has a sound room that features Klipsch speakers prominently, and the speakers and earphones appear in the sales flyers as often as most other brands. London Drugs also sells Tannoy, and a few turntables, and has a vinyl section with more than 100 different LPs. It's no music store, but that's not bad for a drugstore.

Heritage Series speakers are even available at London Drugs by special order.

[garyrc]

Although some folks are willing to buy the old line products as new, I think they are too few to keep a company afloat for long, especially when the economy is in bad shape

My point is that old line products don't have to keep the company afloat.[] Old line products of the superb quality of the Klipsch Heritage line can continue to be offered on a "build when requested" basis, as a mark of the company's integrity and dedication to quality, while the company can be kept afloat by everything from earbuds to the Reference series.

Of course, further improvement of the old line is welcome.

I know just what you mean about "most younger folks" -- but let them hear Fanfare for the Common Man on our Klipschorn system, and they start examining their financial resources to see if, maybe, someday ........... The same thing happens when we have them in to see a movie (in the Khorn room); "everybody" in their age group has Blu-ray, but most use modest speakers and amps. Few have really heard the musical dynamics in the films, even those few who have a sub considerably better than mine, because it's not the sub, it's the Khorns and the Belle center that provide the incredible punch, to say nothing of the clarity and "thereness." At the request of one of them, we ran Fantasia 2000. When the outrageous orchestral eruption occurs in The Firebird, there was screaming, and one more request for pricing information.

[skonopa]

Whenever someone praises the sound at a Regal theater, I say, "Many of them use Klipsch speakers."

I am not going to get into all the going back-n-forth but, from what I can see, it seems Klipsch is doing quite good. I've managed to sell a few folks on Klipsch as well.

Anyway, this quote reminds of a funny little episode I had a few years back. I was attending a seminar that was taking place in a movie theater. During one of the breaks, the subject of home theater came up while chatting with the guy I was sitting next. I told him I had a really nice setup, so he asked me if it was Bose. I told him, "No, its Klipsch" while pointing up to one of the speakers mounted up on the wall, where you can clearly see the "flying V" logo and the "Klipsch" name. He just looked and his jaw dropped. I am guessing he was thinking "Man, if he has the same kind of speakers that are in this theater in his house, that must be one hell of a setup!" I went on to say that my rig will easily blow away anything that Bose has. Come to think of it, kinda wished I thought to ask that guy of how many theaters he knows that has Bose? [6]

[Islander]

Anyway, this quote reminds of a funny little episode I had a few years back. I was attending a seminar that was taking place in a movie theater. During one of the breaks, the subject of home theater came up while chatting with the guy I was sitting next. I told him I had a really nice setup, so he asked me if it was Bose. I told him, "No, its Klipsch" while pointing up to one of the speakers mounted up on the wall, where you can clearly see the "flying V" logo and the "Klipsch" name. He just looked and his jaw dropped. I am guessing he was thinking "Man, if he has the same kind of speakers that are in this theater in his house, that must be one hell of a setup!" I went on to say that my rig will easily blow away anything that Bose has. Come to think of it, kinda wished I thought to ask that guy of how many theaters he knows that has Bose?

It's great when you get a chance to give a perfect answer like that! [Y]

[seti]

With respect to Seti, Islander (I was in Vancouver in June - lovely, met my downfall in Kelowna - bought 7 bottles of wine), and the rest.

I wish I was in Vancouver. Nice