Fun Facts

Collection of interesting facts and fun trivia on the world's coolest speaker company

Company Statistics

Founded
As one of the first U.S. loudspeaker companies, Klipsch was founded by Paul W. Klipsch (PWK) in 1946 in Hope, Arkansas. At the time, it was named Klipsch & Associates.

Pioneering Product
PWK spearheaded the Hi-Fi movement and revolutionized the way people listened to recorded music when he designed the company’s foundation product – the Klipschorn®. Over 65 years later, it’s still being manufactured. 

Product Categories
Klipsch offers high-performance audio solutions in the following categories: home audio, installed whole-house contracting, iPod/MP3 audio, earphones, computer/multimedia systems, professional cinema sound and commercial sound. 

Lord of the Horns
Proprietary horn-loaded technology is the driving force behind Klipsch’s remarkably accurate sound. It provides a unique combination of precision, clarity and effortless power. 

Home Base
The company’s worldwide headquarters, which includes an advanced Engineering and Technology Center, is located in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Historical Facts

Fact: When Paul W. Klipsch started his namesake company in 1946 he was hand-building every speaker inside a tin shed in Hope, Arkansas. He hired his first employee in 1948.

Fact: Born in Elkhart, Indiana in 1904, Paul W. Klipsch was 42 years old when he founded Klipsch, his fifth career.

Fact: Prior to becoming a household name in American audio, Paul W. Klipsch worked for General Electric’s radio division, supervised the maintenance of electric locomotives in Chile, specialized in oil exploration in Texas and served as a ballistics engineer in the U.S. Army.

Fact: Paul W. Klipsch held 23 patents and was inducted into the Engineering and Science Hall of Fame in 1997, putting him in the company of Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers, among others.

Did You Know?

• Paul W. Klipsch believed these four principles to be the foundation for great sound: high efficiency, low distortion, controlled directivity and flat frequency response. These principles continue to drive the design of every new Klipsch speaker, today and tomorrow. 

• Klipsch is one of very few speaker manufacturers to use horn-loaded technology in most every one of its product lines. It’s how the company achieves its signature dynamic sound. 

• The Klipschorn remains one of the most highly praised loudspeakers in the world and is the only loudspeaker to be in continuous production for over 60 years. 

• Paul W. Klipsch was known for having many eccentricities, including his famous “Bullsh*t” motto. He started using the slogan after reading a competitor’s loudspeaker ad that made claims of supposed “breakthroughs.” After that, he wore a “Bullsh*t” button behind his lapel and showed it to anyone he felt was making an outlandish claim. 

• Klipsch’s Engineering and Technology Center, located in Indianapolis, Indiana, is one of the most advanced audio research facilities in the U.S. It includes one hemi anechoic chamber and one full anechoic chamber, echo-free rooms that allow for precise acoustic measurement. 

• The world’s largest cinema chains, including Regal Cinemas, Malco Theatres and Harkins Theatres, turn to Klipsch to provide the power, detail and emotion of today’s complex film soundtracks. In fact, one of every two new theaters in North and South America installs Klipsch. 

• Klipsch speakers have been used in hundreds of high-profile installations including Ron Jon Surf Shop in Orlando, the Cold Stone Creamery in Times Square, the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers in Manhattan and the Granite Mountain Harley Davidson dealership in Georgia. 

• Klipsch products have been featured in several major motion pictures and popular television shows including: The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Be Cool, High Fidelity, 13 Going on 30, the first season of Donald Trump’s The Apprentice and HBO’s Entourage. 

10 Reasons Why Klipsch Speakers Rock!

10. Klipsch is the official loudspeaker of the Hard Rock Cafe. The company’s products are placed in Hard Rock Cafe restaurants and retail locations; Hard Rock Hotel and Casino “high roller” suites and Hard Rock live performance stages.

9. High-performance Klipsch speakers have the ability to stir the soul and leave an impression that lasts long after the closing credits or final guitar strum.

8. Completely unstrained, Klipsch speakers guarantee you’ll experience every heart-stopping, jaw-dropping movie moment at maximum intensity.

7. The imaging of Klipsch speakers is so incredibly accurate that they reveal surprising layers of detail, meaning you’ll discover things in your favorite music and movies that you’ve never heard before.

6. From subtle cricket chirps to glass-shattering explosions in movies and from the scrape of a violinist’s bow to chugging guitar lines in music, you’ll hear everything in its full glory, regardless of volume level.

5. Because Klipsch speakers are highly efficient, they can fill any size room with powerful concert hall quality sound, but without the distortion or coloration of conventional speakers.

4. Klipsch speakers reproduce music and movie soundtracks just as musicians and directors intend.

3. Klipsch holds the #1 market share slot in all U.S. channels for a number of categories: floorstanders, center channels, surround speakers, subwoofers and on-wall speakers. (Source: NPD Intelect data January – September 2006)

2. Klipsch speakers are an absolute must for getting the true power, detail and emotion out of your favorite entertainment experiences.

1. When you see the Klipsch logo, you know you’re going to get The Ultimate Sound Experience™.

Audio Quiz

How well do you know speaker design?

1. A sound wave is:

a) A mechanical wave
b) A non-mechanical wave
c) An electromagnetic wave
d) A transverse wave

2. Sound waves can be produced by:

a) Your voice
b) Your hands
c) Your feet
d) All of the above

3. Changing the intensity of a frequency is the same as changing its:

a) Cycle
b) Wavelength
c) Amplitude
d) Sine Wave

4. In order to get 3dB additional output from a speaker, the amplifier input power must be:

a) Doubled
b) Tripled
c) Quadrupled
d) Bi-Amped

5. A sound that is 1,000 times more powerful than one at 60dB is:

a) 70dB
b) 80dB
c) 90dB
d) 100dB

Answers: 1. (a), 2. (d), 3. (c), 4. (a), 5. (c)