Heritage gathering in Hope

[fini]

Tim,

At first I thought I had captured your aura, too. On close inspection, though, it seems I was lucky enough to catch the exact moment you stuck your finger into one of the tube sockets on Dee's Mark IIIs.

[Woodog]

Now Woo did get to hear my Aura driving my Wharfdales as he spent a few hours with Ian and I later that Saturday night[]

[H]

My aura later turned paisley as a result. []

Woo

[Daddy Dee]

We have heard several nice "thank you's" for Klipsch having folks from

the Hope operation show the group through the factory. That would be

Lee Brooks, Chris and Ann Williams, Roy Delgado. I don't know if it has

been mentioned, but these folks were NOT on the clock. They were there

offering hospitality on behalf of Klipsch because they wanted to do so.

VERY Nice.

One observation about these folks. There is NO TELLING how many

questions they responded to from the group. I mean, hours of questions

and conversation in answers. There was never once I ever sensed

anything but sincere interest and support for Klipsch customers. A

number of these folks even went with us to lunch for continuing

conversation. They all know their stuff. Listening to Roy Delgado, in

my mind, must be the next thing to listening to Mr. PWK himself.

Trey, Thanks for getting things set up. Great job, as always.

Fini, Thank you for celebrating mine and Jan's 25th wedding anniversary

AND paying for dinner! Enjoyed the California wine you smuggles across

several state lines to get to Arkansas. Some fine vino. IMO.

Lee, Thanks for the labor of love in making the fine looking name tags.

Your generosity in sharing the vintage BS buttons and Dope from Hope

bound copies for door prizes.

The staff of the Goat Roper Restaurant were great in their hospitality

and the steaks were fabulous. If you can find a better steak

somewhere else, more power to you. Man, those were good.

Thanks to the Hempsted County Sheriff who provided the code three (for

part of the way, at least) police escort to the Goat Roaper. And for

looking the other way with the outstanding warrants on Trey. (The

warrants were pretty old anyway).

Thanks to the manager of the Holiday Inn Express for the courtesy of

making the breakfast room available for our mixer and listening session

on Friday evening. We did have a couple of motel guests wander in and

listen to the great sound.

For everyone who brought gear and CD's and LP's.. thanks. We heard some very good music.

Tony, co-conspirator. Thanks bro.

[fini]

Dee,

It was great to spend the time with you and Jan, and to break

bread (and the lead seal) together. I came home to a couple of

sick kids (I guess they really did miss me, huh?), so I have not had a

chance to crank the Khorns. I did listen a bit last night, and

there was something missing (compared to Lee's set-up, and of course

Roy's room, not to mention the Goat Roper's "sound room.").

Seriously, I wish you guys could just pop on over and give me your

opinions. Maybe a CA gathering should be planned?

[colterphoto1]

On the subject of thanks, there are just about as many people to thank as took part in the Heritage Gathering.

Brother Tony, for getting the ball rolling. I know the labor of love was worth it to you when I saw your boyish grin in the listening room. I hope you loved the sound of those Jubes and all the new Klipsch Heritage offerings as much as I did. This might not have happened without you.

Ringleader and travelling companion Trey. What a great time we had. I had the good fortune to travel with Trey from Indy to Hope. I'll try to pass on the love of the company and the products that you taught me. Your experience with the company and willingness to lead this gang of rag-tag audiophiles through the Museum and Factory showed your company loyalty. That I sat with you from 8 am to 5 pm Friday and you never let on in the least about the factory tour shows that you can definitely keep a secret and a surprise. I offer as proof the fact that I ran out of film. If I'd had any idea of the tour, you can bet I'd had 10 rolls at my disposal. Thanks bro!

Chief Engineer Roy Delgado was about as humble yet authoritative as a man can be. His direct experience with Paul Klipsch shows in his engineering prowess. He was very thoughful in his listening tests and was a very understanding lecturer at lunch on Saturday. Roy must have sat with us for at least 2 hours, patiently answering our questions. I only hope that he thought half of much of us Klipsch Fans as we think of him. We love your work Roy. I was particularly impressed at his explanation that some things Heritage were left alone because 'they were Paul's'. That alone say a lot.

Chris, Ann and Lee were just as helpful during the tour and into the evening. I especially enjoyed talking PA with Chris and his wife Ann. It's a real testiment to the devotion these Klipsch employees have to the company that they'd give up a day to spend with people they'd never even met.

And all the good people in the Hope factory who left their workstations neat with beautiful work in process laid out for us to see. I don't know if things were left that way on purpose, or if it was just the normal close of the business day, but it's a spectacular factory floor with what appears to be top-notch people in every position. You must be very proud of the products you create and we enjoy the fruits of your labor.

All the hosts and vendors were very friendly, both Holiday Inn Express and the Goat Roaper restaurant, for putting up with our noise for an evening each. If you're ever in Hope, definitely get to the Roaper for a fantastic steak.

And to my brother Klipschers. Thanks to Lee for the prizes and tags, Dee, Seadog, Woodog, BobC for the gear and tunes (hope I didn't leave anyone out). It was a pleasure to meet and spend time with each and every attendee. It's nice to finally make an entire event and be one of the gang.

It was a weekend well spent. I shall never forget the experience.

Michael

[colterphoto1]

I've asked Amy Unger, moderator, to please make sure that our thank you's get to the appropriate parties in Hope Arkansas.

Michael

[Seadog]

I too want to express my sincere thanks to Dee and Tony and Lee and the other Arkansas Klipschters, and of course to the Klipsch employees who made this a very special weekend. And a special thanks to Trey, who made possible the rare experience of visiting the plant that PWK built.

Michael did a much better job of expressing heart-felt thanks to everyone responsible for the gathering, so I'll just say ditto to what Michael said.

I have just a few more photos to post. The first is Trey receiving from Dee the custom-made lighted Klipsch sign.

[Seadog]

The staff at the Goat Roper could not have treated us any better. Apparently, this one overlooked our shortcomings for one night, because she was very nice.

[Seadog]

This poor guy was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[Seadog]

I thought this was a cool looking shot of SSH's 2A3.

[jacksonbart]

Did any one ask what kind of system that Roy Delgado had in his home?

Thanks in advance.

[Seadog]

Quite possibly the world's best car speakers!

[ssh]

After I checked in & unloaded my stuff in the room, I walked by the front desk to hear, "Did I tell you that the water is off?" "No," I replied. "Yeah, they've been working on it for four hours." Great, I thought, we're wearing shoes, but have no water here. Welcome to Arkansaw. Sure enough, through the listening room window, and I might mention, Near, was a crew with a backhoe, shovels, hardhats, and noise, (jackhammer, too, Brute?) restoring dignity to our waterless whole.

"Did I tell you that we have water now?" "No," I replied, thinking that meant we have music now, and went into the meeting room with the dignity of a Hog fan.

Cornwalls and Hereseys were perched, with the sound of Cornwalls in the foreground, pumped by a Scott of not-yet-known description. Some known Klipschers, mingled with other presumed brethren, were doing the audio-dig-it-dances associated with all of the presumptions of Klipschophiles. Unknowns were soon confirmed as genuine articles, as handshakes, introductions, and immediate comradery were shared. "We are family..." just like on the forum, there was an immediate connection, like buddies picking up where buddies just left-off.

If you've ever been to a horserace, remember the chill of the bugle call, and that's what the first few minutes of this gathering was like.

Wow, what a ride... an awesome, exhillerating, hog wild Klipsch weekend ride.

Thanks, buddies!

SSH

[Daddy Dee]

Jacksonbart,

Roy mentioned he was experimenting with delay on his Klipschorns using

a Behringer unit of some kind. Other than that, I didn't hear anything

else about his home system. Perhaps someone else asked him about that.

[Tony Reed]

Roy told me that the speakers in his system are ones that he has put together... nothing out of the stock Klipsch lineup.

Tony

[Parrot]

So does Roy have Klipschorns or not then?

[Trey Cannon]

No, Roy does not have Khorns...

[neo33]

Trey, you look just like my high school teacher! [].

[Arkytype]

In the mid '70s, one of the Klipsch reps drove a VW van with a pair of La Scalas in the rear facing forward!

Stereo separation wasn't much but they would sure part your hair.

For those attending the Hollis' Goat Roper "shootout", does anyone

remember bringing a CD (on the Columbia label) that had a really strong

opening bass line? The artist was perhaps Indian and the cover art was

an abstract form. The music was New Age/Alternative ?

Lee

[fini]

I don't have an answer to that question, but I did come up with a name

for the new business venture Sandy is getting into (Sandy owns the Goat

Roper).

"Hope Springs Internal"

I will just say, next year's dinner will include an expanded "shootout."