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*cough* CES 2017 *cough*


Chad

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I recently watched a video seminar sponsored by Parasound and the featured speaker was John Curl. I'll leave you to do the research on this man who has done some amazing things in the audio industry.  During the Q&A session, an attendee asked John a question (and I paraphrase), "Looking around the room I see a bunch of old farts.  And I see the same old farts at every audio store I go to.  I have kids and my friends have kids and they could care less about cleaning a record or trimming a tube amp or learning to set up a stack of equipment 50' tall - not to mention their attention span.  How, or is the audio industry gonna survive given the realities of the current and future generations that feel a compressed MP3 file is just fine by them?"  John's answer was he had no answer.  But he did say that the industry is giving this issue serious thought and the truth is you either create a solution, adapt and survive or die.  It's just that simple.  And BTW....at 61, I'm one of those old farts that bought his first Klipsch when I was 21. 

 

Personally, I like the direction Klipsch is appearing to be headed.  One can mumble grumble all day about Bluetooth 3.0 or 4.0 or wireless this or built in amp that, but I'll leave you with what my Dad use to say, "Hell son....do something - even if it's wrong. But just don't stand there".  All us old farts can get all giddy about our old stuff and how we scored on some old stuff that was waaaay cheaper than the new stuff and how our old stuff sounds better than the new stuff cause it's got sonic character marks like that water ring from when your Ex (may she rot in hell) set her Bud Light can on your Belles or that dent in your KHorns from the party where Billy Joe Bob decided to practice driving a golf ball.  Hell - I do that too.  But here's the hard cold reality - although Klipsch really loves us and appreciates our stories of modding and barn finds, WE ARE NOT THE ONES THAT WILL ENSURE THE SURVIVORABILITY OF THE COMPANY.  That only happens by selling new stuff.  So go back and re read my first paragraph. 

 

IMHO, these new products, and others like them from competing manufacturers, give us a good idea where the industry is heading.  Two words - wireless and simplification.  Our current crop of young-uns don’t want a pile of electronic gear 6’ tall (yet).  Companies need products that gives them a chance to hear what true detailed wide dynamic range music is all about and not that compressed crap that folks have on their phones.  But it has to be simple, intuitive and user friendly to entice them to wanna hear/know more.

 

The high end industry is pretty scared right now because they know that current and future generations are all about convenience, digital, and gotta have it right now.  The generation that loved the experience of warming up the tube amp while cleaning the record, sitting the record on the turntable and feeling the anticipation of the needle contacting the record surface, tubes a-glowing and then sitting back with a scotch or wine and basking in the immersive sound from those massive speakers is GONE!!!!!!!  Folks don’t have the patience for that now (sadly IMHO).  Nor do they want the complexity of the gear and having to learn a bunch of shi....uh....stuff to put together a very good system.  The manufacturers know this and can see death at their door if they don’t adapt.

 

Audio is rapidly changing and I think it’s for the good.  Personally, there is something special that happens when you can sit back and listen to music that takes you away from the realities of the day and places you in that concert hall where the musicians are.  When you hear a recording that’s real – background noises, a musician accidently kicking a mic stand, the squeak of a guitar player’s hand while moving from one fingering to another, or the singer who has a voice that brings you to tears (Alison Krauss), is just something special.  Nobody seems to have time for that now....or maybe they don’t want to make time...I dunno.  All I know is that it moves my soul to a happy place.  Audio companies and us old farts need to do our share to expose those MP3 tone deaf folks to what music reproduction REALLY sounds like.  And maybe we get some converts that will allow Klipsch and others to go on.  And IMHO The Fifteen is a fine example of just that.  Is it the end all, be all.  Absolutely not.  But how much simpler can it get to introduce someone to the "dark side" of vinyl that's just as big a hole in the water as a boat??  :o

 

Anyhow.....the products that I’m all gacked about is “The Fifteens” and the “Forte III”.  One of those systems is gonna be in my house by the end of 2017.  Most likely it will be The Fifteens since I can get a turntable and be back in the vinyl game.  Ohhhhh yeah baby.  Going down (again) that rat hole.  So help me out.  One of you old farts buy my Cornwalls.  Sorry, they have no sonic character marks.  :D

 

Oh - sorry for the soap box.  That's what old farts in retirement do.  :D :D

 

Tom

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19 hours ago, Tom Adams said:

I recently watched a video seminar sponsored by Parasound and the featured speaker was John Curl. I'll leave you to do the research on this man who has done some amazing things in the audio industry.  During the Q&A session, an attendee asked John a question (and I paraphrase), "Looking around the room I see a bunch of old farts.  And I see the same old farts at every audio store I go to.  I have kids and my friends have kids and they could care less about cleaning a record or trimming a tube amp or learning to set up a stack of equipment 50' tall - not to mention their attention span.  How, or is the audio industry gonna survive given the realities of the current and future generations that feel a compressed MP3 file is just fine by them?"  John's answer was he had no answer.  But he did say that the industry is giving this issue serious thought and the truth is you either create a solution, adapt and survive or die.  It's just that simple.  And BTW....at 61, I'm one of those old farts that bought his first Klipsch when I was 21. 

 

Personally, I like the direction Klipsch is appearing to be headed.  One can mumble grumble all day about Bluetooth 3.0 or 4.0 or wireless this or built in amp that, but I'll leave you with what my Dad use to say, "Hell son....do something - even if it's wrong. But just don't stand there".  All us old farts can get all giddy about our old stuff and how we scored on some old stuff that was waaaay cheaper than the new stuff and how our old stuff sounds better than the new stuff cause it's got sonic character marks like that water ring from when your Ex (may she rot in hell) set her Bud Light can on your Belles or that dent in your KHorns from the party where Billy Joe Bob decided to practice driving a golf ball.  Hell - I do that too.  But here's the hard cold reality - although Klipsch really loves us and appreciates our stories of modding and barn finds, WE ARE NOT THE ONES THAT WILL ENSURE THE SURVIVORABILITY OF THE COMPANY.  That only happens by selling new stuff.  So go back and re read my first paragraph. 

 

IMHO, these new products, and others like them from competing manufacturers, give us a good idea where the industry is heading.  Two words - wireless and simplification.  Our current crop of young-uns don’t want a pile of electronic gear 6’ tall (yet).  Companies need products that gives them a chance to hear what true detailed wide dynamic range music is all about and not that compressed crap that folks have on their phones.  But it has to be simple, intuitive and user friendly to entice them to wanna hear/know more.

 

The high end industry is pretty scared right now because they know that current and future generations are all about convenience, digital, and gotta have it right now.  The generation that loved the experience of warming up the tube amp while cleaning the record, sitting the record on the turntable and feeling the anticipation of the needle contacting the record surface, tubes a-glowing and then sitting back with a scotch or wine and basking in the immersive sound from those massive speakers is GONE!!!!!!!  Folks don’t have the patience for that now (sadly IMHO).  Nor do they want the complexity of the gear and having to learn a bunch of shi....uh....stuff to put together a very good system.  The manufacturers know this and can see death at their door if they don’t adapt.

 

Audio is rapidly changing and I think it’s for the good.  Personally, there is something special that happens when you can sit back and listen to music that takes you away from the realities of the day and places you in that concert hall where the musicians are.  When you hear a recording that’s real – background noises, a musician accidently kicking a mic stand, the squeak of a guitar player’s hand while moving from one fingering to another, or the singer who has a voice that brings you to tears (Alison Krauss), is just something special.  Nobody seems to have time for that now....or maybe they don’t want to make time...I dunno.  All I know is that it moves my soul to a happy place.  Audio companies and us old farts need to do our share to expose those MP3 tone deaf folks to what music reproduction REALLY sounds like.  And maybe we get some converts that will allow Klipsch and others to go on.  And IMHO The Fifteen is a fine example of just that.  Is it the end all, be all.  Absolutely not.  But how much simpler can it get to introduce someone to the "dark side" of vinyl that's just as big a hole in the water as a boat??  :o

 

Anyhow.....the products that I’m all gacked about is “The Fifteens” and the “Forte III”.  One of those systems is gonna be in my house by the end of 2017.  Most likely it will be The Fifteens since I can get a turntable and be back in the vinyl game.  Ohhhhh yeah baby.  Going down (again) that rat hole.  So help me out.  One of you old farts buy my Cornwalls.  Sorry, they have no sonic character marks.  :D

 

Oh - sorry for the soap box.  That's what old farts in retirement do.  :D :D

 

Tom

Well stated. Klipsch embracing headphones and bluetooth speakers is similar to when Porsche started making SUV's. There was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth from the purists, but SUV's are what people are buying and they provide income that allows Porsche to remain profitable and build some damn nice sports cars.

 

But needing to clean records before playing them has always seemed to me to be more of a bug than a feature. (And at 55 I'm hardly a youngin'):D

Alison Krauss' voice is proof that we are sometimes visited by angels.

 

 

 

 

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Hello Community,

 

My name is Steve Jain, it was my crazy idea to build THE FIFTEENS.  I am crazy about the golden era of audio (which in my mind is up to the 1950-1960's).  I like mechanical things, old things, and in general have a vintage mind.  

 

It's my chubby bald self in the videos...

 

So what we wanted to do with THE FIFTEENS was create a romantically nostalgic speaker that took a lot of the good things from the golden era and marry them with what we believe todays consumer wants.  As a huge vinyl van, I wanted to ensure that we enhanced the experience when using these with vinyl, so we added Moving Magnet AND Moving Coil phono preamp built-in (we may be the first to ever do this).  Typically when you start your vinyl journey you start with a MM phono cartridge, and as you start to get more and more into vinyl you may want a MC cartridge and that necessitates a "step up transformer"...we wanted to take that mystery out of the equation.

 

We are getting some requests for a Passive version, but at this moment we are not looking at a passive version.  If you want passive, look to our outstanding current and new Heritage Collection of speakers.  

 

I am crazy excited about the response to some of my crazy ideas for the new products (Heritage Wireless, Powergate Max, The Fifteens, The Sixes and the new Headphones), I have an amazing team and you can rest assured we will keep pushing the envelope on whats possible from a material composition standpoint.  We are focused on celebrating our history and blending the 70 year legacy with todays streaming and digital world.  More crazy ideas coming...I promise!

 

 

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3 minutes ago, Jainbaby said:

Hello Community,

 

My name is Steve Jain, it was my crazy idea to build THE FIFTEENS.  I am crazy about the golden era of audio (which in my mind is up to the 1950-1960's).  I like mechanical things, old things, and in general have a vintage mind.  

 

It's my chubby bald self in the videos...

 

So what we wanted to do with THE FIFTEENS was create a romantically nostalgic speaker that took a lot of the good things from the golden era and marry them with what we believe todays consumer wants.  As a huge vinyl van, I wanted to ensure that we enhanced the experience when using these with vinyl, so we added Moving Magnet AND Moving Coil phono preamp built-in (we may be the first to ever do this).  Typically when you start your vinyl journey you start with a MM phono cartridge, and as you start to get more and more into vinyl you may want a MC cartridge and that necessitates a "step up transformer"...we wanted to take that mystery out of the equation.

 

We are getting some requests for a Passive version, but at this moment we are not looking at a passive version.  If you want passive, look to our outstanding current and new Heritage Collection of speakers.  

 

I am crazy excited about the response to some of my crazy ideas for the new products (Heritage Wireless, Powergate Max, The Fifteens, The Sixes and the new Headphones), I have an amazing team and you can rest assured we will keep pushing the envelope on whats possible from a material composition standpoint.  We are focused on celebrating our history and blending the 70 year legacy with todays streaming and digital world.  More crazy ideas coming...I promise!

 

 

Welcome to the craziness we call the Klipsch forum!  So glad you joined us!  It's always great to meet the "minds behind the madness"!

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1 minute ago, dtel's wife said:

Welcome to the craziness we call the Klipsch forum!  So glad you joined us!  It's always great to meet the "minds behind the madness"!

 

Thanks, I joined Klipsch almost a year and a half ago...been one heck of a fun ride so far.  The design direction in a lot of the new products came from myself and my amazing Sr Designer Tony Martin!  Tony was our employee of the year and I'm crazy proud to have him on my team.  

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3 minutes ago, Jainbaby said:

 

Thanks, I joined Klipsch almost a year and a half ago...been one heck of a fun ride so far.  The design direction in a lot of the new products came from myself and my amazing Sr Designer Tony Martin!  Tony was our employee of the year and I'm crazy proud to have him on my team.  

@Jainbaby be sure to check back in. Once these guys/gals see you are posting in here they will have lots of comments and questions. 

We are all excited about the new product development and the new "lifeblood" it is generating! 

 

My husband (dtel) and are huge fans of Klipsch. We've attended a Pilgrimage to Indy and have quiet a few good friends in the Indy area. 

 

We have made every Pilgrimage to the factory in Hope, AR, since 2005 and attended several Jubfests hosted by @Chief bonehead (Roy Delgado). Always a great time. 

 

As of recent we have been involved along with @dwilawyer and other forum members with the organizing and transferring of the Klipsch Heritage Museum Association. A task that we are all very proud of. Maintaining the legacy of PWK for history is a monumental task. The man was truly a legend. The museum ribbon cutting ceremony will be held in conjunction with this year's Pilgrimage, which Paul Jacobs has graciously agreed to attend. 

 

We are also also actively organizing this year's Pilgrimage to Hope, AR in April of this year. It would be great to have you attend along with others from KGI!  As part of the Pilgrimage, all attendees sponsor an Employee Appreciation Luncheon for all attendees and factory employees!  

 

There's a section on the 2017 Pilgrimage here in the forum and we are adding details daily!  So, I'll break the news to everyone here...looks like we MAY have four live bands performing on Saturday this year!  Acoustic, jazz, rock and country!  Hoping I can confirm this tomorrow!  

 

Again @Jainbaby thank you for joining and we hope you stick around! 

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Steve, the Fifteens are a knockout.

 

I noticed that in some of the glamour shots of the Fifteens they're sporting what look like the spun metal woofers similar to the RP series, but in other photos they appear to have a more traditional paper cone woofers.  I'm curious as to which the final product will be sporting, and would love to see more detailed specs and measurements.

 

 

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3 minutes ago, dtel's wife said:

@Jainbaby be sure to check back in. Once these guys/gals see you are posting in here they will have lots of comments and questions. 

We are all excited about the new product development and the new "lifeblood" it is generating! 

 

My husband (dtel) and are huge fans of Klipsch. We've attended a Pilgrimage to Indy and have quiet a few good friends in the Indy area. 

 

We have made every Pilgrimage to the factory in Hope, AR, since 2005 and attended several Jubfests hosted by @Chief bonehead (Roy Delgado). Always a great time. 

 

As of recent we have been involved along with @dwilawyer and other forum members with the organizing and transferring of the Klipsch Heritage Museum Association. A task that we are all very proud of. Maintaining the legacy of PWK for history is a monumental task. The man was truly a legend. The museum ribbon cutting ceremony will be held in conjunction with this year's Pilgrimage, which Paul Jacobs has graciously agreed to attend. 

 

We are also also actively organizing this year's Pilgrimage to Hope, AR in April of this year. It would be great to have you attend along with others from KGI!  As part of the Pilgrimage, all attendees sponsor an Employee Appreciation Luncheon for all attendees and factory employees!  

 

There's a section on the 2017 Pilgrimage here in the forum and we are adding details daily!  So, I'll break the news to everyone here...looks like we MAY have four live bands performing on Saturday this year!  Acoustic, jazz, rock and country!  Hoping I can confirm this tomorrow!  

 

Again @Jainbaby thank you for joining and we hope you stick around! 

 

 

Awesome.  I will be at the Pilgrimage, CAN NOT WAIT!!!

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1 minute ago, Ski Bum said:

Steve, I noticed that in some of the glamour shots of the Fifteens they're sporting what look like the spun metal woofers similar to the RP series, but in other photos they appear to have a more traditional paper cone woofer.  I'm curious as to the final product, and more detailed specs and measurements.

 

 

 

Those were just renders.  It was important to me to use low mass paper cones (again that nostalgia and vintage brain)...

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