A reformed KLH, now owned and led by David P. Kelley, formerly global sales president of Klipsch, will make its custom-channel debut during next month’s CEDIA Expo 2018.
Kelley acquired the iconic audio brand in 2017 and assembled a team of former Klipsch execs including Greg Topp, sales senior VP; Sal Cannatella, product development senior VP; and chief technology officer Steve Howell.
“KLH is one of the most stories and revered audio brands in the world, founded by one of the most iconic engineers in the history of consumer electronics,” Kelley said of the late Henry Kloss, who was an inaugural member of the CE Hall of Fame.
Kelley plans to revive some of KLH’s signature designs, like the Model Eight radio and Model Nine electrostatic loudspeaker, along with a few “hybrids,” he hinted.
In San Diego, KLH will introduce a voice-enabled amplified Keypad (model VX-1) outfitted with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth with aptX, and HiRES audio circuitry. The company describes it as a retrofit solution for transforming a single-source home audio system into a wireless multi-source streaming music system.
The Keypad becomes Alexa voice control-enabled when used with a free MUZO iOS/Android control app. In addition to local zone, adding any Amazon Alexa device allows voice-enabled control of other sources or components throughout the home.
The device is priced to hit a $199 retail, and shipping is slated for October 2018.
The VX-1 fits into a standard single-gang electrical J-Box. Leveraging the existing speaker wire runs, an onboard 50-watt high-grade Class D digital amplifier and dedicated external DC power supply together drive the existing speakers in the homeowner’s audio system.
The included HiRES Audio-certified digital-to-analog converters are capable of up to 24 bit/192 kHz decoding, and the VX-1 supports most audio file formats including FLAC, DSF, APE, WAV, AIFF, MP4 and MP3.
The entire KLH line, including a collection of high-performance in-room, architectural and outdoor speakers, will be demonstrated during CEDIA Expo at the InterContinental San Diego in Bayview Ballroom B on Sept. 6-7.
For more information visit KLHAudio.com.
