Loudspeakers

As the story goes, when told that making a non-corner horn loudspeaker for three-channel stereo use was 'heresy', Paul W. Klipsch replied: 'that's exactly what I'm going to call it'. Yet it took the Arkansas brand seven years to build up the courage, instead naming its new speaker the Model H until 1964. In the intervening period, Klipsch asked its dealers and owners for suggestions, which ranged from the sensible – 'Klipschette' and 'Twelve and Two' – to the surreal – 'Rad-O-Horn' and 'HcspilK' – before settling on Heresy. The first Model H was made in late 1957, and for a short period in 1958 a 200mm bass driver variant, the Model H-8, was also produced. A key difference to the modern Heresy IV was the Model H's bass response. Devised primarily for use as a limited-bandwidth 'centre channel' with the substantial Klipschorn or Shorthorn models, the H's low-frequency output was attenuated below 80Hz. The crossover network was redesigned for full-range playback when the speaker was sold in pairs.