OTHER TECH

Klipsch might be the most recognizable name in speakers. After all, the company has been around for more than 60 years - ever since founder Paul Klipsch figured out how to create a compact version of the huge horn speakers used in movie theaters. How to take the company through its next 60 years is one of the challenges facing Michael Klipsch, president and chief operating officer of Klipsch Audio Technologies. Jamie Sorcher talked to Michael about the challenge of staying true to the company's roots while branching out into areas, such as wireless music distribution, that are crucial to addressing how people listen to music today.

The Klipschorn created the market for horn speakers. How big is the market for that speaker today? The fact that we've been making the Klipschorn for 61 years speaks volumes about its performance, because today most products have a life cycle of just 1 or 2 years. The Klipschorn is part of our Heritage line, and we've seen a growth in this category for the last 3 or 4 years. We did a special version of the Klipschorn for our 60th anniversary last year. What's interesting to us is that this family of products has a global following.

When Paul Klipsch designed the Klipschorn, his goal was to reproduce the dynamics and excitement of a live orchestra in the living room. In achieving that, it became a very popular product for serious two-channel music listening. The people buying these products today want to have what I consider the best two-channel listening experience on the planet.

Why did you decide to branch out beyond speakers? We recognize that many consumers want products that perfectly fit into how they live and work. How we use entertainment devices is changing dramatically every year. By branching out, our goal is to put ourselves in a position where more and more people can enjoy our speakers. We do non-speaker products so we can sell more speakers to go with them.

Our goal is simply to provide the best possible audio in all the categories in which we compete. We have a pretty wide area of coverage - home theater, whole-house contracting, iPod audio systems, and computer multimedia systems. We're also the number-one provider of speakers to movie theaters. And in each of these categories, we use the horn-loaded technology that started with the Klipschorn. If we can't deliver that Klipsch best-of-class sound in a certain category, we won't enter it. We have tried to take the high road in all these new areas.

How do you listen to music on the go and at home? I do have an iPod, and I always travel with it. At home, I have a whole-house system with different speakers set up in each room. I have music on virtually all the time.