Klipsch® Palladium™ P-39F Takes Environmentally Friendly Approach
Luxury speaker proves essence of nature can still be enjoyed without harming the environment
INDIANAPOLIS (April 18, 2008) — When the Klipsch® industrial design team set out to create the flagship Palladium™ P-39F floorstanding loudspeaker, their goal was to have it resemble a premium piece of handcrafted furniture. And, by looking at its striking boat-tail silhouette and exotic zebra-striped finish, it’s quite obvious they hit the mark. But, less apparent is the team’s environmentally friendly approach.
According to Paul Jacobs, president and COO of Klipsch Group, Inc., often, when building luxury goods, manufacturers will use a zebrawood veneer because their affluent target market is awed by its dramatic color banding of light and dark stripes. However, it’s a resource that is considered threatened in its native habitat, meaning it’s vulnerable to extinction in the near future. “With the P-39F, we too are trying to reach upper-echelon customers using a distinct, zebra-striped veneer, but we’ve found a way to lessen the impact it has on our mother Earth,” he said.
The Palladium P-39F features what the company calls a “Linia” veneer, which is available in three different finish stains: natural, merlot and espresso. According to Glen Fuller, Klipsch director of design, Linia is a very close match to zebrawood. It is a hand-selected zebra-grain veneer produced from real wood; tree sources include the Ayous, Obeche and Italian Poplar. These trees are part of a government-sanctioned controlled harvest, so they are a renewable wood resource. “By using the Linia zebra-grain veneer, we’re proving that the essence of nature can still be enjoyed without harming the environment,” noted Fuller.
There are several other advantages that Linia has over zebrawood. Five times as much zebrawood needs to be used to find an acceptable product finish, resulting in an incredible amount of waste material. Worse yet, it is wasting a natural resource that is not easily renewable. The non-threatened Linia is a more eco-friendly choice, in that its repeatable pattern/grain is consistent and offers graphic uniformity, leaving hardly any waste material behind. Fuller also mentioned that Linia’s stain and color consistency from model-to-model is good for manufacturing and matching models from run-to-run and year-to-year.
“Because we want to be an environmentally responsible company, while still setting the highest production standards, we decided to go with a zebra-grain Linia version rather than a zebrawood veneer on the P-39F,” said Jacobs.
Priced at $20,000 per pair (U.S. MSRP), the Palladium P-39F speakers will begin shipping to select specialty retailers around the world in July.
More information on this luxury product can be found on the Palladium mini-site. Watch Palladium video.
About Klipsch
Founded in 1946 by Paul W. Klipsch, one of America’s most celebrated audio pioneers, Klipsch® has long been a high-end name in loudspeaker design. Today, the brand continues its success as a leading global manufacturer of premium sound solutions for home, personal and commercial use. From massive professional cinema speakers to tiny headphones, Klipsch remains committed to delivering the most powerful, detailed and emotional sound experiences. Family owned and operated, chairman Fred Klipsch and vice chairman Judy Klipsch set the vision and strategy for the brand as well as the entire Klipsch Group, Inc. organization.