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The Paul and Valerie Klipsch Museum


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Notice that there are three Jubilees. I'm almost positive the lone model is the same one that sat in her dining room with her piano in Hope. A small group of us had the privilege of being invited into her home on one of our visits to the factory down there. Anyways, that speaker was in a complete state of disarray, and it took me and Dr. Who almost an hour to get it working again. The only electronics we had access to were some 80s era low budget Kenwood gear, and when we finally fired it up, it was pretty disappointing - especially considering what we had just experienced at the factory with the K-402 Delgado Beast Version.

There was a small sign on top of that single Jubilee that stated it is the very same Jubilee as the one in the photo with PWK right above it.

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Next time you're passing thru Albuquerque give me a heads up. I'll take you to a great mexican restaurant where us locals go.

I'm in the area somewhat often. What is the name of the place you go to? I may have been there.

Los Cuates, Cervantes and El Pinto are a few of my favorites.

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Valerie Klipsch is engaging, intense, and very much the perfect hostess.

That's an understatement to say the least. :o:D Very nice lady, but you don't want her mad at you, probably somewhat kept PWK in line as well as anyone could.

I think Seti has one set of the original horns.

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I think the Museum has been moved to Indy, at least, I know Hunter wanted to do it and it was in the works over a year ago.

There's still a lot of stuff in the building labeled "Klipsch Museum" across the street from the factory. As a matter of fact it looked like everything was still there but I could only see through one window and the front door. Items could have been removed in areas I couldn't see.

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The Belle Klipsch was dropped when they "beautified" the LaScala into the LaScala II. I really don't want to speculate as to whether Ms. Valerie had any involvement with this or not.

I don't think so. The Belle never sold well, that's probably the reason it was discontinued. It did get a new, revised squawker horn and crossover when the K-horn got the AK-4 upgrades. When he was alive, they had a Belle as a center speaker in their house.

Miss Valerie is a strenuous advocate and defender of Mr. Paul and his legacy. It was obvious she revered him and looked at him as a hero. It also looked like one of those old-fashioned love stories, you only read about. You can understand how she would not be fond of ghosts from the past, no matter how important they were, in the past. It is perhaps unfortunate for us and our interest in Mr. Paul and the building of his company, but understandable.

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what horn is that? it's not a 502 is shorter than that ins't it?

what horn is that? it's not a 502 is shorter than that ins't it?

Here is THAT Jub in Valerie's piano room. Might be the same one........or even its mate.

Also........somewhere on the planet is the "tool" (mold) for those injection molded versions of the K-403. Not the best sounding horn. But if you wanted a Heritage sounding Jub.

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Next time you're passing thru Albuquerque give me a heads up. I'll take you to a great mexican restaurant where us locals go.

I'm in the area somewhat often. What is the name of the place you go to? I may have been there.

Los Cuates, Cervantes and El Pinto are a few of my favorites.

I know of El Pinto. I've been there but it was a long, long, long, long time ago! The other two I haven't heard of.

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The Belle Klipsch was dropped when they "beautified" the LaScala into the LaScala II. I really don't want to speculate as to whether Ms. Valerie had any involvement with this or not.

Since the La Scala II is really styled like the Belle, it made the Belle redundant. It's a newer and better speaker, with very similar styling, so it would not make sense to continue producing the Belle, whose only advantage at that point was its shallower cabinet.

It would seem like a pure business decision, nothing more.

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  • 4 years later...

Seems to me that Valerie was predictably uncomfortable dealing with the memory of Paul's first wife, Belle.  This is not to suggest that she influenced the decision to stop production of the Belle, but like many who marry widows or widowers, she was uncomfortable competing with a dead person.

 

It would be appropriate for Klipsch and the museums to now pay appropriate tribute to the contributions of Belle Klipsch during the early years.  Without her teaching salary, Klipsch & Associates might not have survived to morph into what now exists.  Belle and Paul were not divorced -- which would have vcreated an entirely different dynamic.  Belle died, leaving Paul a widower.  He was fortunate that Valerie came into his life.  While Valerie's reluctance to reference Belle during her lifetime is understandable, now that Valerie has joined Belle and Paul in the listening room eternal, Belle's contributions should no longer be ignored.   Honoring Belle does not diminish the memory of Valerie.  At least, that's my unsolicited opinion.

 

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