Heritage pricing?

[Chad]

Doesnt Klipsch have Heresey's in a few Chipotles

 

Around 400 locations.

 

Also, we have many "irons in the fire" when it comes to this stuff. We are always working on things like this behind the scenes. Stay tuned! 

[Rivernuggets]

From a Klipsch promo email a few months back:

http://www.klipsch.com/blog/klipsch-install-stories-chipotle-adds-heresy-iii/?utm_source=Shopatron+Email+Marketing&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Image+-+Chipotle+Adds+Klipsch+Heritage+Speakers+to+All+Locations&utm_content=Chipotle+and+Klipsch+%E2%80%93+A+Tasty+Combo&utm_campaign=Chipotle+Install

[Sancho Panza]

RAW BIRCH: I remember when La Scala could be a poor mans Klipshorn...& the Heresy for him even poorer still...

Guessing by the end of LS & HII production, circa 2005, Raw Birch wasn't selling???

Edited April 22, 2015 by Sancho Panza

[Chad]

Stay tuned! 

 

I should also remind people a great way to stay up to date on Klipsch things of note would be to sign up on our email list. We send out about an email a week. 

http://www.klipsch.com/newsletter

[dtel]

Also, we have many "irons in the fire" when it comes to this stuff. We are always working on things like this behind the scenes. Stay tuned!

 

 

To me this is a big deal, klipsch in the rock and roll hall of fame, what better place.

 

http://www.klipsch.com/klipsch-and-the-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-and-museum-partnership

[dtel]

On the original topic (unusual for me )

 

The price of new Heritage FOR ME is hard to buy, but really when you think about it for this level of sound and build quality it's a pretty good deal. Now add that they can easily last a lifetime with minimum upkeep, figure those hours of listening over the lifetime and it's a steal.   

[Sancho Panza]

On the original topic (unusual for me )

The price of new Heritage FOR ME is hard to buy, but really when you think about it for this level of sound and build quality it's a pretty good deal. Now add that they can easily last a lifetime with minimum upkeep, figure those hours of listening over the lifetime and it's a steal.

After I get what I want, pre-listened, I plan to augment &/or replace with New Heritage...

[Ceptorman]

I wonder how the Palladium sales are compared to the Heritage line? A set of Khorns are positioned in the middle of P37s and P38s. The Palladiums might have an advantage since it has matching speakers for HT use. 

I think it would be interesting to see a breakdown of all their speakers sales, but that might be private company knowledge.

[Travis In Austin]

I just told the wife, that in 2021 I am either purchasing a 75th aniversary pair of Klipschorns or Jubilees. She said ok, I just wanted to go on record that she agreed to it.

Doesn't matter if you go on record or not, she has perogative, and she knows it. It is in their code somewhere.

[twistedcrankcammer]

You either wear the pants or you don't and that's all I'm gonna say about that!

[Travis In Austin]

Not snippy--merely curious, and courteous. I want to know what and why you're thinking what you are.

I am interested in the threads that you reference above, as I will read them, but it is much more easy for you to locate them than me. Some keywords might help.

I'm also like-minded on these subjects. and perhaps not as well informed.

Chris

I have made similar posts myself, and have seen Alex and Chad discuss, in as diplomatic a way as possible, that Heritage is not the direction where the company is headed. I think it is.pretty clear from other threads, about CES, etc., there are a nimber of reasons for this, here are a few that have been discussed previously and posted in other threads.

1. Hope doesn't continue to exist because of Heritage. Hope continues to exist because of Cinema.

2. Heritage has very little, if any, IP protection left. You can spend money on products that are patented or you can spend money trying to increase demand for a product that anyone can copy. It they did increase marketing dollars and somehow tripled their Heritage sales you would get another Shineal popping up to compete for that increased demand. A company that wants to survive moves forward, adjusting to the market. Those that that don't become extinct, Poloriod, Ampex, RCA, etc.

3. As a result, even if Klipsch could get into Starbucks, they would instal Pro, like KIs, not heritage, just like they did at Hardrock. Right now they are all out at CinemaCon, selling cinema speakers worldwide, and they will continue to be in one out of two newly opened theaters.

4. The "market" isn't in high end speakers. The total annual market for "high end audio" is 200 million. As a comparison, headphones are 2 Billion. If Klipsch could get just 10% of of that market they would more than double their annual sales for the entire company.

5. Heritage in a niche, and hopefully it will continue to be for a very, very long time. But it will sit as a niche, a very select product for a very, very select market. It gets the marketing attention and dollars as appropriate to the contribution to the bottom line, which is minimal.

6. The vast majority of people on here don't buy new Heritage, they purchase used. There is no shortage of used Heritage, and that fact isn't lost on Klipsch. They understand that whatever marketing efforts are undertaken for Heritage do not equate to a direct impact on new Heritage, it spills over onto the used market.

7. They did bring the whole Heritage line to CES, maybe that is why they are making all of those H3s?

Did anyone ask how many they were building a day, a week, a month, a year?

Travis

[twistedcrankcammer]

Not snippy--merely curious, and courteous. I want to know what and why you're thinking what you are.

I am interested in the threads that you reference above, as I will read them, but it is much more easy for you to locate them than me. Some keywords might help.

I'm also like-minded on these subjects. and perhaps not as well informed.

Chris

I have made similar posts myself, and have seen Alex and Chad discuss, in as diplomatic a way as possible, that Heritage is not the direction where the company is headed. I think it is.pretty clear from other threads, about CES, etc., there are a nimber of reasons for this, here are a few that have been discussed previously and posted in other threads.

1. Hope doesn't continue to exist because of Heritage. Hope continues to exist because of Cinema.

2. Heritage has very little, if any, IP protection left. You can spend money on products that are patented or you can spend money trying to increase demand for a product that anyone can copy. It they did increase marketing dollars and somehow tripled their Heritage sales you would get another Shineal popping up to compete for that increased demand. A company that wants to survive moves forward, adjusting to the market. Those that that don't become extinct, Poloriod, Ampex, RCA, etc.

3. As a result, even if Klipsch could get into Starbucks, they would instal Pro, like KIs, not heritage, just like they did at Hardrock. Right now they are all out at CinemaCon, selling cinema speakers worldwide, and they will continue to be in one out of two newly opened theaters.

4. The "market" isn't in high end speakers. The total annual market for "high end audio" is 200 million. As a comparison, headphones are 2 Billion. If Klipsch could get just 10% of of that market they would more than double their annual sales for the entire company.

5. Heritage in a niche, and hopefully it will continue to be for a very, very long time. But it will sit as a niche, a very select product for a very, very select market. It gets the marketing attention and dollars as appropriate to the contribution to the bottom line, which is minimal.

6. The vast majority of people on here don't buy new Heritage, they purchase used. There is no shortage of used Heritage, and that fact isn't lost on Klipsch. They understand that whatever marketing efforts are undertaken for Heritage do not equate to a direct impact on new Heritage, it spills over onto the used market.

7. They did bring the whole Heritage line to CES, maybe that is why they are making all of those H3s?

Did anyone ask how many they were building a day, a week, a month, a year?

Travis

Travis,

The answer to your last question is NO!

I also never gave it thought before, but your assessment that Hope exists because of Cinema would seem spot on. Unfortunately I see that as a long slow death rattle as Cinema finds itself in the same league with Newspapers in the new technical age... It is for this reason and this alone that I see Hope as NEEDING something like the possibility of the new Heritage inspired Retro Technological speaker niche.

Thanks for the insightful input Travis!

Roger

Edited April 25, 2015 by twistedcrankcammer

[Travis In Austin]

Stay tuned!

I should also remind people a great way to stay up to date on Klipsch things of note would be to sign up on our email list. We send out about an email a week.

http://www.klipsch.com/newsletter

That is big news.

[Trentster5172]

How many are made?

I was in contact with the factory in January. I was told 10-15 pairs of Klipschorns a month, and about double for the La Scalas. Heresy's and Cornwalls are in constant production every single day.

Edited April 25, 2015 by Trentster5172

[garyrc]

Saying that the market for Heritage isn't there (true or not), therefore it isn't worth widely marketing them, is self fulfilling prophecy.

 

In the case of Heritage, I'd like to see them more widely demonstrated, rather than more widely advertised.  Or both.  A pair of Khorns in two corners of sound stores, and any other appropriate venues, might greatly increase the sales of Khorns over the 10 - 15 pairs per month Trentster5172 cites.  Demonstrations can have a bleed over effect, increasing the sales of La Scala IIs, Heresy IIIs, etc., particularly on the part of people who cannot afford them --- yet --- but may eventually.

 

As I said before, AR used to demo their speakers in a room at Grand Central Station.

 

Khorns are conversation pieces, tuck nicely into corners, and don't look like every Tom, Dick and Tower.

 

I hear big, old Retro speakers are popular in Asia, where having them shipped would be a pain in the ***.  Having 2 Khorns at one end of a lounge at the San Francisco Airport, with two Jubs at the other end, might feed that fire.

 

Next to nobody has heard the Jubs, including me,  What would we think if we did?  I know it is debatable whether or not Jubs are Heritage, but since they were designed as the next Khorn ....

 

 

[Travis In Austin]

How many are made?

I was in contact with the factory in January. I was told 10-15 pairs of Klipschorns a month, and about double for the La Scalas. Heresy's and Cornwalls are in constant production every single day.

That is kind of what I surmised, and is actually less then I was guessing. If you take the high end of those numbers, add in Cornwalls and K-Horns, it is less than 5% of their total sales. Fred Klipsch sold the company for 170M, a great deal of that price was attributed to good will. If I recall correctly, about 7M was attributed to actual assets.

Heritage remains, I am specilating, because it is an integral part of that goodwill, not because it is a significant source of revenue.

No one shoild be surprised by this, or saddened, this was the case going back to the time that Fred bought the company. Professor Hunter, who should know, was quoted as saying:

"Unfortunately, the company's sales reps only knew how to sell speakers for the home market, according to Hunter.

"We got in and out of the professional market several times," he said. "The only thing that held on was the cinema portion."

In 2010, right before Fred sold the company, Klipsch issued a press release about reaching a deal with a major electronics retailer in Mexico, but it mentioned the stronghold Klipsch had in cinema. So in 2010 how many theaters do you think Klipsch was in down in Mexico? (No fair peeking below, what is your honest guess?)

Here is the relevant portion of the press release;

Klipsch is no stranger to the Mexican market, Klipsch loudspeakers are a staple in Mexico’s cinemas. Installed by the leading cinema professionals throughout Mexico, Klipsch professional loudspeakers continue to power unrivaled sound to over 1,750 cinemas throughout the country. The partnership with Tesco will make it possible for Mexican retailers to offer their consumers a chance to bring Klipsch’s trademark cinema sound into their own homes.

“This valued partnership with Klipsch allows us to provide retailers with superior audio solutions,” said Federico Bausone, president of Tecso. “Klipsch is a global icon in the audio industry, and we are delighted to make the company’s products available to the home and personal audio market in Mexico.”

So you were way low like I was right? My guess was 300.

Does anyone know what the average sales revenue to Klipsch for a single theater? Does anyone know what other countries Klipsch has broken into and is targeting cinema in?

I will conclude with this for all of the nostalgia fans. In college I had to do a case study on a company that got started in the late 50s by a guy named Kloss and his teacher, Edgar Kilcher, out in MA. They came out with a speaker called the AR-1. They said it provided big bass in a small package, and very accurate. It was called acoustic suspension. But it was only 88 or so db efficient and power was expensive in those days, so it was very slow going for Dr. Edgar and his former student from MIT.. One choice was Mac, and they were big money. Then a tiny audio transformer company started by a guy named Hafler decided to make a low cost alternative power amp available, 50W or so, in both kit form and eventually assembled. The company was called Dynaco. The market ran to Dynaco amps to power their AR-1 speakers. Henry and Edgar were now starting to sell their speakers and they improved upon it and came out with the AR-3. By the mid 60s Acoustic Research had one-third of the loud speaker market share of loud speakers in the US. Think about that for a minute. One out of evey 3 speakers sold in America were AR, and most of those were AR-3s. It doesn't matter how they sounded, the market thought they were the best thing since sliced bread.

So what happened to Acoustic Research? They continued to try to inovate, the IP ran out on the a acoustic suspension system, and they were faced with major competition from companies like Klipsch, Bose, JBL, etc., etc. They faded into oblivion, were purchased by Voxx, the current owner of Klipsch, and the name is relagated to adorn the packaging of such illustrious products as RCA interconnect cables in stores.

That didn't happen to Klipsch because Paul found a buyer, his cousin, who allowed him to continue to tinker, and allowed Roy and Hunter to continue on tinkering,joined by Troy, and the host of other bright innovative minds I unfortunately have not had the opportunity to meet. They were bought again, and apparently Voxx has the wisdom to continue to let them tinker and come up with a better mousetrap that Paul originally built, AND, to let them not only reinvent that mousetrap, but to let them dream and innovate new products to kill things no one had thought of before.

Travis

[bhenry]

Used 2009 Klipschorns: $3500.00.

Being able to have a concert (and/or movie) in my basement anytime I want: Priceless.

[JJkizak]

I did see a flock of Klipsch advertizing signs on the TV coverage of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremonies. Made me wonder if they used Klipsch speakers there.

JJK

[Travis In Austin]

Used 2009 Klipschorns: $3500.00.

Being able to have a concert (and/or movie) in my basement anytime I want: Priceless.

It doesn't get any better than that. Did the original owner indicate why they were selling them? Moving and no room, different direction?

[Zen Traveler]

 

Saying that the market for Heritage isn't there (true or not), therefore it isn't worth widely marketing them, is self fulfilling prophecy.

 

In the case of Heritage, I'd like to see them more widely demonstrated, rather than more widely advertised....

 

 

 

 

Honestly, there are probably more of these speakers being "demonstrated" than most of their other lines and their market for current NIB sales is diminished by how many of them are out there in the used market and the price they can be had. That said, those production numbers seem high, although my guess is they can put them out on a custom basis depending on the need and the 'good will' and marketing of the name remains genuine.