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When we first took up contact with KLH in 1971 they were at the apex of their glory. The company was established in 1960 when Henry Kloss went from AR (Acoustic Research) to start out on his own, together with two business partners. They were all graduates from the venerable MIT (Massachusets Institute of Technology. Due to this institution Massachusets became one of the most important states of the U.S. loudspeaker industry. (The other being California). Chigaco for long was the main hub for the electronics companies. Mr. Kloss was prominent in the design of the first AR acoustic-suspension (closed cabinet) speakers, and continued his work with KLH. They had a nicely balanced product range in 1971. The fastest sellers were models 6 and 17 - middle-sized 2-way systems with 12 and 10 in. woofers, but we also sold some of the top-range modell 5 - a 3-way system. The model 6 went back to the end of the fifties, so it was already more than 10 years "old". The 17 also was delivered with some of the KLH compacts. At the bottom of the price-range were models 31 and 32. However, in the following years little happened with regard to product development, we sold the 6 and 17 well into the seventies. It also came to surface that their speakers were rather prone to burn-outs as standard amplifier power continued to rise. A legenday KLH speaker was the KLH-9 - electrostatics with less than good efficiency (as a matter of fact, very low) and sub-standard power handling capacity. That adds up to: 1. Very little sound, or: 2. Lots of problems. However, these speakers had many devoted followers and some remedied the problems by working several pairs together. Very expensive! As we complimented our product range with Infinity (only for a short period) and the Altec Lansing consumer range, the turnover of KLH products in our inventory gradually dropped back. The speaker series that were developed to take over for their classics looked, and played, very much like any other speaker brand. KLH also made some quite nice compact electronics units, but these were never imported due to the problems with electrical safety standards. A few samples of their receivers were imported, but again these could not be sold through regular channels here. Personally, I am looking around for good specimens of models 27, 52 and 55. Their front design is exceptionally clean. The KLH manual turntable was particularly feedback-resistant due to its excellent suspension system. Also, their vintage table radios are now very popular in the U.S. These have excellent mono receivers and came with a separate high-quality single air-suspension speaker that could be placed apart from the receiver unit. Today, the KLH sign can be found on a large series of home theatre speakers. The company that bought the brand name in 1989 is today located in California. |