Paul Wilbur Klipsch, The Legend in Sound
Paul W. Klipsch is yet another individual from our region who is little known in his own country. Yet, his work ultimately brought us our home theater systems, the Dolby System theater surround we all enjoy, high fidelity recording, and many other things that literally changed our world for the better. The image above and others on this page are from the Klipsch Museum of Audio History in Hope, AR. Use the link to find them as it is well worth the short drive over there to see audio history and hear the story told by Klispch protege and disciple Jim Hunter, museum curator.
This file is the famous “8 Card” which contains the basis of PWK’s entire philosophy and science of loudspeaker design. Many music lovers have the basic points memorized and use them to judge every new loudspeaker they hear. To the extent a speaker does not conform to these 8 cardinal points, it is flawed and violates the physics of reproduction. It may sound very good…but it’s either too expensive, requires too much power and produces distortion, too large, or one of the other issues he laid down. Sort of the “8 Commandments” of loudspeaker design.
These files are from the Klipsch Museum. When you visit, tell Jim Hunter you read them and want more…he knows many great stories.