This Klipschorn was built in the garage by Lt. Col. Paul Klipsch and Lt. James Hannah Ward in the mid-1940s. James was a native of Hope, AR and graduated from Hope High School in May 1941. According to the Hope Star, Jamess classmates described him as a virtual young Tom Edison.
Read MoreThe “KingHorn”. This was mentioned previously when we did not have the funds or approval to execute the significant shipping. This 400# shipment was covered by Steve Rowell of Audio Classics. Thanks, Steve! The KingHorn was the subject of an extensive paper submitted to the Newark College of Engineering by John H. King, Jr. in 1955. John’s son, Russell, has donated it to KHMA.
Read MoreIn 2002 a Vitavox-licensed Klipschorn was purchased for the Klipsch Museum of Audio History. (In the late 1940’s Vitavox of England was the first company to license the Klipschorn design. This unit appears “at first glance” to be one of the very first.) When it arrived in Hope it was to be forwarded to Indianapolis. The crated speaker never arrived. After much debate it was given up for lost. On Monday, at the conclusion of a thorough cleaning of the Hope Lab, a massive crate with a label reading “KP-418 Subwoofer” surfaced. When brought to Chief Bonehead’s attention, the label was recognized as being wrong. Opening it revealed the long-lost Vitavox. Due to Mr. Paul Jacobs’ and Voxx International’s generosity, the artifact was donated to KHMA. While the speaker does not retain its S2 compression driver, it was discovered that the original Vitavox Type K15/40 woofer was still in place. A worthy addition to the museum and a fascinating piece of audio history!
Early in his military service at the Southwestern Proving Grounds, Paul acquired this book, along with many others specific to his then hobby, loudspeaker design. As with many of his books and scientific journals, he left his mark with “notes in the margins”. Mr. Bruce Marlin donated this book, which was given to him by Paul during his own engineering service to Klipsch & Associates in the 1990’s.
Read More©2025 Klipsch Heritage Museum Association | Terms and Conditions
