A Classic Reimagined

KLH model five loudspeaker

- By Thomas J. Norton

KLH was originally founded in 1957 as the KLH Research and Development Corporation by three partners: Henry Kloss, Malcolm S. Low, and Josef Anton Hofmann. Today, the best-known of that trio is the late Henry Kloss. A true A/V renaissance man, Kloss was instrumental in establishing four loudspeaker companies: Acoustic Research, KLH, Advent, and Cambridge Audio. In the mid-1970s, he also founded a short-lived company to market his then-revolutionary Advent VideoBeam projection system. Kloss further worked to improve FM radio and brought Dolby B noise-reduction to the consumer audio cassette.

When Indiana-based Kelley Global Brands bought the rights to the KLH name in 2017, it took on the significant challenge of reviving a long-idled loudspeaker brand. The first step for the company was to release a lineup of new KLH loudspeakers. While well-received, none of these had a direct connection to the originals—understandable, since loudspeaker design has advanced significantly since KLH’s glory years. But there’s still plenty of love in the audio world for classic speaker and component designs, and the Model Five is about as classic as they come.

ACOUSTIC SUSPENSION

KLH designs of the ‘60s used the then-rare acoustic suspension technology developed and patented by Edgar Villchur, the founder of Acoustic Research (AR), a company that Kloss had assisted in launching. Kloss left after a year or two and licensed the acoustic suspension design when he started KLH.