AAFES & Klipsch: Who lost the connection?

[krustyoldsarge]

Rangersix:

Second to none!

You have a PM! I'm TDY to CRC right now!

[PYRO]

Purchased my Hersey II's in Stuttgart, Germany (1987). I purchased my RF-7's through AAFES on-line service in Sept 2002. Checked back in Feb 2003 to buy an RSW-15 and the service was discontinued. If you are interested in getting klipsch back into the AAFES line-up please contact the AAFES direct purchase program via their website. If they get enough inquiries we just might see Klipsch back in the stores.

Thanks,

Rob

[BEC]

I can chime in with some agreement with Andy on the benefits of Klipsch going after military sales. When I went to San Vito dei Normani Air Force Station in Italy in 1968, I immediately found on arrival that the group of people there were the most audio oriented group I have ever encountered. Our BX was small, but perhaps a third of it was audio equipment. No Klipsch at that one but lots of Scott, AR, Fisher, Akai and Sansui. That place got me interested in audio. My goal and it seemed the goal of almost every other guy on that base was the leave there with two things. One was a new European car and the other was the best audio system we could afford. I left with a new 1971 Mercedes 220 and a Scott receiver and speakers.

Bob Crites

[Piranha]

Do you still have the 220?

[BEC]

Piranha,

No, I sold it before it was a year old. Made money on it selling it here. That car was the gasoline model and suffered a lot in this country from not being able to be driven right I suppose. While in Europe with the Mercedes, I drove it 100 MPH almost everywhere I went and averaged around 20 miles per gallon. Back in the states, with most of the driving being city, it would only get around 15 MPG and after a couple of weeks of that, it would start running rough and smoking. The cure was to run it fast for 20 miles or so. I probably should have bought the diesel 220 that would have been happier loafing around in the US traffic. I ordered the Mercedes while in Italy and picked it up at the factory in Stuttgart. Had the tour of the factory and watched them finish up and test my car on the track. Most interesting thing about ordering that in Europe was that things we usually consider as extra cost options in this country were not over there. You simply specified the diesel or gasoline engine and the standard or automatic transmission. Same price either way.

[ptpskm]

I am currently in the Navy and purchased all of my Klipsch speakers from AAFES.com back when they carried the synergy line of speakers (which was up until 2002). You didn't have to be deployed or overseas in order to order the speakers, they carried them in AAFES exchanges state side and also on AFFES.com. Because they carried Klipsch, I was able to special order the reference line. Believe me after the exchange added their markup it wasn't a huge savings but it was nice to be able to order from a trusted source. The exchange submitted a purchase order to Klipsch (for special orders) and Klipsch shipped the speaker direct to the customer. If you look at AAFES.com today you will see alot of lower end speakers or the high dollar Bose stuff. I don't know if Klipsch couldn't compete on price with the low end stuff that the exchange was selling or if they just weren't moving enought product. I would like to know who ended the relationship Klipsch or AAFES? If it was AAFES, we could all ask AAFES to put Klipsch back on the special order list.

[jt1stcav]

Yeah, brings back fond memories...

While stationed stateside in the early '80s (Ft. Dix, Lowry AFB, and at Ft. Hood with the 1st Cavalry Division) I always heard how the great audio deals could be found overseas. My chance came in '83 when I was assigned to the 51st Signal Bn. (93rd Signal Bde.) in Ludwigsburg, Germany...went to Robbinson Barracks in Stuttgart every chance I could. And there they were, a nice new pair of Cornwall IIs, Heresys, and La Scalas set up in the showroom! But stupid me wanted to buy my other gear first...a Nakamichi DRAGON and a pair of Koss headphones were first on my list to play all my cassettes; then all my Carver gear, processors by ADC and dbx, a beefy Denon turntable with a Stanton MM, two more Nakamichis and a harman/kardon 3-head cassette deck (also had my eye on gear from Luxman, Tandberg, and Revox, plus a Teac 10" reel to reel and a Pioneer LD player, but never committed to them). I borrowed a cheap pair of small AR bookshelf speakers from my roommate to use until I could save enough to buy the Klipsch...any Klipsch! But then when I had enough saved up, my interests turned to photography again and so I bought several Minolta 35mm camera bodies and lenses, and before I knew it I sunk all my Klipsch money into camera gear. By the time I came up with enough cash for Klipsch, the PX was temporarily sold out of every model they carried, so I settled on a nice pair of JBL L112 Century II monitors instead. They were great loudspeakers, but not Klipsch! I waited too late though, and by the time I had enough for the Cornwall IIs, I had less than a week left in country before I was sent back to the states for outprocessing back to civilain life! What a fool I was for waiting too long until it was too late!

Now it's too late for any servicemember to purchase Klipsch loudspeakers at any PX/BX...that's too bad, but hopefully Andy will have some sort of impact on Klipsch's decision to bring back their line of horn speakers to AAFES. Will it ever be like it was back in the '70s and '80s? Today's military at least deserve that much!

[Guest Joshua Ryan Hall]

Hey, Folks. Joshua here. I'm researching this to see what I can find out for you. We're into our busiest time of year right now so it may take a few days, but I'll be reading if you want to address me directly.

--Joshua Ryan Hall

Public Relations Manager

Klipsch Audio Technologies

[HDBRbuilder]

Joshua,

Good to see you have noticed this thread! With virtually every soldier in the active Army and the Army Reserves, along with the Marine Reserves and such getting the call already or in the near future, Klipsch certainly needs to stay on top of this and get its speakers out onto the stateside military bases so these soldiers can at least have a listen to them!

If these soldiers are soon to deploy to the Middle East, then the only bases they are likely to get a chance to hear Klipsch is the stateside bases...BUT...don't leave out the overseas AAFES locations, because those soldiers, sailors, and airmen/women also deserve the chance to hear them and purchase them! Make it happen and watch Klipsch become a nationwide household word again!

Common sense will show that when these military folks come home, the civilian sales of Klipsch will also benefit from this move!

If at all possible, getting the line into the AAFES catalog will be a major benefit to sales, too, since so many of the deployed soldiers order things from it for shipment home all of the time!

Don't overlook the promedia line in this endeavor either, because many of the deployed soldiers will be having DVD players and/or DVD-capable laptop computers with them, even in the Middle East...and if they can order promedia speakers from the AAFES catalogs while deployed, they will do so in order to better enjoy their DVD's while deployed!

Please...Keep us posted on how this turns out! Our military members deserve access to the best, so let's give it to them! If they can hear them, they will buy them!

[jt1stcav]

Thanks, Joshua for looking into this matter. Andy's very passionate about the lack of Klipsch loudspeakers getting into the hands of today's servicemen and women. If you and the corporate heads can convince AAFES to introduce Klipsch products back into the exchanges and catalogs, you'll then know that you did a very good thing. It'll be a win-win situation for all interested military personnel, AAFES, and for all local Klipsch retailers within the vicinity of military posts and bases.

[Audio Flynn]

Makes me feel stupid to have not thought of this first.

A limited selection of one of the timeless speaker companies of the USA should be available to our service people.

Promedia

RB-15

Refernece 10 sub

RF-3 II

RB-5

Heresey

Enlistd personel can most likely not afford much more than that.

and to get a little attantion

-Raffle off a pair of speakers

-speakers in the mess hall

[Piranha]

OT....I was at Disneyland with my boys today. I couldn't help but notice all the JBL and Bose speakers they had mounted all over the park. And who knows what kind are hidden in the bushes, trees, behind curtains etc.

Maybe Klipsch would be wise to look into this potential market as well? I think it's safe to assume that Disney uses a LOT of speakers in their resort locations worldwide.

[edwinr]

----------------

On 8/15/2004 4:23:03 PM Joshua Ryan Hall wrote:

Hey, Folks. Joshua here. I'm researching this to see what I can find out for you. We're into our busiest time of year right now so it may take a few days, but I'll be reading if you want to address me directly.

--Joshua Ryan Hall

Public Relations Manager

Klipsch Audio Technologies

----------------

Great you've noticed the enthusiasm here, Joshua. HDBRbuilder as usual has raised a topic dear to all Klipsch fans - spreading our passion so we make as many converts as possible.

[krustyoldsarge]

Interesting article in the Stars and Stripes about this issue

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=23820

"The 1st ADs return translated into a Baumholder PowerZone gross sales increase of 515 percent to $1,064,429 from $206,421 in July compared to July 2003, when all troops were deployed, according to figures supplied by AAFES."

Of course, the whole story needs to be read. While the troops were gone, business was down, way down all over.

In any event, this is business that Klipsch is missing. Conversely, the troops are missing out on the best speakers money can buy!

[Tony Reed]

I was at Disney/MGM in Orlando a couple of years back. We had settled in at the outdoor theater where they do the "nightly show" when I noticed there were an incredible number of loudspeakers. I counted 54 speakers just slightly smaller in size than the Klipsch LaScala. And that was just the ones I could see! This was in one theater in one park! I bet they use loudspeakers by the hundreds, if not thousands.

Tony

[ptpskm]

I noticed on AAFES.com today under the special order section that AAFES says Klipsch does not want to participate in the special order program. That's too bad, because even if Klipsch doesn't want to sell their speakers via the BM exchanges or AAFES.com they could at least allow service members to special order their speakers.

[jt1stcav]

I wonder why that is?

[Beesley]

I've been in the USAF for about 8 years and remember when Klipsch were sold at the Spangdahlem (actually Bitburg) AB, GE BX. Thats where I purchased my first set (KSF-XX series) on major discount because they were not going to carry them anymore. I remember the days when the BX was a discount, now it seems like a lot of the BX's know what they can charge and get away with. The BXs' I've shopped at sometimes had sales but for the most part charged what everyone else was charging, even a slight mark up to compensate for the "tax free benefit". I couldn't make a deal on anything unless I brought a print out from their own online catalog advertising something cheaper than listed in their store. Heck, we were in Germany, where else are the Americans going to buy US products or electronics? For 5 years the Bitburg BX charged as much as they could get out of the Troops. The base BX charged almost $30.00 to develope a roll of film, and retail on just about everything else. I remember clearly, there was one shop off base that sold Klipsch Synergy, and like all electronics in Germany they were EXPENSIVE, I mean Reference price. So the BX stood on the idea "Well we still sell them cheaper than they do off base" and sold them for RETAIL, PERIOD. What a scam....Sure its nice to have a BX in a foreign country, but the prices are anything but reasonable. Please note the BXs in the states are fine, they have competition (walmart, target, etc) and will adgust their prices accordingly, but oversees nowadays is a whole different ballgame

[DaleR]

I bought my 5.5's back in '94 from Wilson Audio in Tucson. The BX at Davis-Monthan had a lousy selection of gear, but the AAFES catalog always seemed to have better stuff (Yamaha, Klipsch, etc.). I was always told it was because the local exchanges weren't allowed to compete with the "Best Buys" of the world. The Navy Exchange here in Naples, Italy, offers, almost exclusively, big screen TVs, and even has a whole room devoted to Bose Home Theatre (Bose built and paid for the room).

Our newest Exchange catalog offers brands like Sony (non-ES), Kenwood, Onkyo, Pioneer, Cerwin-Vega, and of course, 15 pages of Bose. A lot of it is mass-market crap and I wouldn't waste my time with it. My boss listened to my Klipsch/Rotel/Sony ES system recently, and remarked that mine was the "best system he had ever heard!" Like many people, he doesn't realize you can put together a great sounding system for not a lot of money.

Most of the military folks I know tend to be very analytical and mechanical in nature, and they like to have good quality gear they can tinker and have fun with. Most of them also make a decent living and can afford to updgrade their gear every couple of years. I belive Klipsch should really look hard at getting back into the military market, because I think they will find a multitude of customers who will become life-long Klipsch fans.

[biomedtech]

I can't believe there is someone else in the world who owned a JBL 380!!

I still have mine, had it re-coned about 3 years ago. I also purchased the specially designed JBL crossover. total cost $555 for both. The Steamroller never sounded so good!

Every time I went to Mainz-Kastel, I heard the Infinity Referance Standard cranking out the War of 1812 (every 23 minutes). I forget what amps were powering those towers, but Telarc's digital cannons never cracked once.