Milestones
Very few speaker companies have been around as long as Klipsch. For over 60 years, the company has developed speakers that create the most engaging, emotional and dynamic entertainment experiences. As we move into our seventh decade, we remain committed to delivering the hallmarks of the Klipsch Sound—Power, Detail and Emotion—like never before.
1904
On March 9, audio legend Paul W. Klipsch (PWK) is born in Elkhart, Indiana. As it turns out, he will be the only child of Oscar W. Klipsch and Minna Eddy.
1930
While working in Chile, South America maintaining electric locomotives, Paul W. Klipsch becomes an amateur radio enthusiast. While comparing horn to cone-type radio speakers, he discovers the superior efficiency of horns.
1934
In graduate school at Stanford University, one of Paul W. Klipsch’s classmates mentions to him that speakers sound better in a corner.
1938
Using the ideas that horn speakers are more efficient and that they sound better in a corner, Paul W. Klipsch develops a crude prototype of the Klipschorn®.
1945
Paul W. Klipsch receives a patent on his Klipschorn speaker design and essentially helps kick off the Hi-Fi era.
1946
At age 42 and initiating his fifth career, Paul W. Klipsch registers the name Klipsch & Associates and begins selling his Klipschorn speakers to scientists and audiophiles. At this time, he’s working out of a tin shed in Hope, Arkansas. A local cabinetmaker and the Baldwin Piano Company assist Paul in building his first 20 Klipschorn speakers.
1948
Paul W. Klipsch acquires his first factory building, formerly the telephone exchange building for the Southwest Proving Grounds in Hope, Arkansas, and hires his first employee, cabinetmaker Lloyd McClellan. The first Klipschorn built here is numbered 121. Today, the original factory is the Klipsch Museum.
1957
Paul W. Klipsch introduces his experimental Heresy speaker, effectively the world’s first commercial center channel speaker. A year later, he demonstrates it at the World’s Fair in Brussels, Belgium.
1963
Paul Klipsch designs the La Scala speaker for the performing arts sector. Arkansas gubernatorial candidate Winthrop Rockefeller later uses it as a public address speaker. Eventually, the La Scala makes its way into audiophile circles because it was considered a “portable” and more affordable version of the Klipschorn.
1977
Klipsch & Associates beefs up its professional speaker line with the 500-pound MCM speaker. Designed for touring sound and cinema applications, the MCM delivers enough power to rock the house down.
1978
Paul W. Klipsch receives the Audio Engineering Society's highest honor, the prestigious Silver Medal Award, for his contributions to speaker design and distortion measurement.
1980
While it’s possible that cinemas used the Klipschorn in the early 50s to wow audiences, Klipsch formally gets into the professional theater business after selling an MCM system to John Allen. In fact, Allen established the first ever “digital” audio presentation of a soundtrack using Klipsch speakers.
1984
Paul W. Klipsch is inducted into the Audio Hall of Fame.
1989
At age 85, Paul W. Klipsch sells Klipsch & Associates to second cousin and Indianapolis businessman Fred S. Klipsch and his wife Judy. While manufacturing remains in Hope, Arkansas, business operations move to Indianapolis, Indiana. The company is re-named Klipsch, Inc. and one of the first product lines to come from this “new” company is the Tangent Series, a line originally produced for the U.S. Armed Forces.
1992
Klipsch begins supplying the residential contracting market with two in-wall speakers – the IW 100 and IW 200. The Academy center channel speaker is introduced, representing the company’s first center channel speaker designed specifically for use in home theater surround sound applications.
1993
With 5.1 home theater surround sound gaining more momentum, Klipsch begins building its audio portfolio with the introduction of its first powered subwoofer line.
1995
In honor of Paul W. Klipsch’s achievements, New Mexico State University (PWK received his Bachelor of Science degree from NMSU in 1926) renames its engineering department the Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
1996
Klipsch introduces the Rebel “8”, the company’s first compact “satellite” speaker offering.
1997
Paul W. Klipsch is inducted into the Engineering and Science Hall of Fame, an honor shared by Thomas Edison, George Washington Carver and the Wright brothers. The Engineering and Science Hall of Fame recognizes those who have improved the quality of the human condition through an individual contribution using engineering and scientific principles. Klipsch also introduces its Synergy Series with monitor and tower product lines.
1998
Replacing the 1996 Rebel system, Klipsch introduces the Quintet to meet consumer demand for an even smaller, space-saving speaker package.
1999
Klipsch introduces the first computer speaker system in the world to be THX®-Certified. At $249, the ProMedia v.2-400 forever changes the way people think about multimedia speakers. The first generation of Reference Series speakers is introduced to the market.
2000
Klipsch moves into its current headquarters location on the northwest side of Indianapolis. Also, the company is re-named Klipsch Audio Technologies. Fred S. Klipsch is named Indiana Heartland's Ernst & Young 2000 Entrepreneur Of The Year® in the manufacturing category.
2001
Klipsch breaks ground on one of the Midwest’s most advanced consumer audio research facilities. Today, the Klipsch Engineering and Technology Center boasts two anechoic chambers (echo-free rooms), digital electronics workstations, a full-featured transducer lab, an engineering model shop and an industrial design lab.
2002
On May 5, at the age of 98, audio legend Paul W. Klipsch dies. Throughout his lifetime, this relentless perfectionist earned 23 patents.
2004
At the 2004 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Paul W. Klipsch is inducted into the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) established this Hall of Fame in 2000 to honor the leaders whose creativity, persistence and determination helped shape the consumer electronics industry into what it is today.
2005
Klipsch enters the iPod® accessories space with the iFi. As the first iPod-dockable home stereo system on the market, this 2.1 set up becomes a favorite among reviewers and scores numerous editors’ choice awards. Additionally, Klipsch acquires Danish brand Jamo to accelerate global growth.
2006
In January, Klipsch kicks off its 60th Anniversary at the 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Then in February, Fred S. Klipsch is inducted into Junior Achievement’s Central Indiana Business Hall of Fame. In August, the company acquires Audio Products International (API), makers of the Mirage®, Energy® and Athena® speaker brands. The Arkansas Institute for Performance Excellence (AIPE) selects Klipsch’s Hope, Arkansas-based manufacturing facility for a 2006 Commitment Award. Best Buy honors Klipsch with a Bravo Award for being its Vendor Partner of the Year in the Audio Video Division.
2007
While Fred S. Klipsch receives an honorary doctor of technology degree from Purdue University, the company enters several new product categories including headphones and high-end. Image and Custom are marketed as the industry’s most comfortable, highest performing headphones. Image is also recognized for being the world’s smallest, lightest in-ear headphone design. Klipsch receives a patent for its skew horn design (#7,275,621), a technology that’s featured in the R-5650-S and KS-7800-THX in-wall speakers. Introduced at the IFA show in Berlin, Germany, the luxurious Palladium P-39F floorstander, at $20,000 a pair, represents the pinnacle of modern-day horn-loaded technology and craftsmanship. For the second year in a row, Best Buy honors Klipsch with a Bravo Award for being its Vendor Partner of the Year in the Audio Video Division.
2008
In January, while the Image X10 headphones and Icon Series XF-48 floorstander receive 2008 CES Innovations Awards, the company unveils the custom Klipsch bike, built by Klipsch and Orange County Choppers™, during CES at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. Later in the year, Klipsch speakers are installed in the new OCC headquarters in Newburgh, N.Y. In April, Klipsch partners with six select retailers on selling its Reference Series speakers online for the very first time. In July, the entire seven-model, high-end Palladium™ Series becomes available worldwide, while the KL-7502-THX in-ceiling speaker scores a 2008 Product of the Year Award from Electronic House magazine.
2009
In May, Klipsch introduces its “recession proof” Image S4 headphones. At the time, it is one of the most successful product launches in company history, with multiple shipments selling out almost overnight. Just in time for the digital TV transition on June 12, Klipsch introduces its affordable HD Theater Series, proving a high-def picture demands high-def sound. Klipsch runs an HD Theater 500 ad in USA Today to support the launch.
In August, Klipsch takes its headphone business a step further, introducing the Image S4i and S2m headsets. A true breakthrough product, the S4i is among the first third party headphone to feature Apple’s advanced three-button microphone and remote system. It is also one of the first to be fully compatible with the Apple VoiceOver feature on the third generation iPod shuffle. Also in August, Klipsch introduces the fourth generation Quintet, an 11-year-old product that continues to be the company’s best-selling surround-sound system of all time. In September, devoted leaders Fred and Judy Klipsch celebrate 20 years of owning the company.