A Legend Among Us

He lived long, 98 years. He shared an honor bestowed on Thomas Edison, Jonas Salk, the Wright Brothers and Albert Einstein. His death was noted by the Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning News, Arkansas Democrat Gazette and The New York Times, to name a few. He was Paul W. Klipsch, founder of the company that bares his name.

Paul W. Klipsch

His job dealt with projectile velocity and he held patents in ballistics and geophysics, but his passion was music — or rather the speakers of which it came out. After the Army closed the base, Mr. Klipsch bought a building at the grounds and manufactured the first Kilpschorn® speaker. Patented in 1945, it is still in production and considered by many to be the finest loudspeaker ever made. It is the only speaker in the world that been in continuous production for over 50 years.

According to the Dallas Morning News Mr. Klipsch became enamored with audio as a boy after his mother moved the family phonograph into a corner and the sound improved.

He built his own radio receiver a year before the first public radio broadcast. He held three patents in ballistics, eight in geophysics and twelve in acoustics.

Jim Shahin writing about Paul Klipsch in 1989 for American Way magazine said, "He has been described as irascible, querulous, a mad genius." After meeting him, Shahin said he seemed "less the unpredictable tinkerer of legend that a gentlemanly blend of Old World refinement and rough-edged individualism…he looks years younger than he his."

His cousin Fred Klipsch said stories of his lasting wit and superior intellect were indeed true, which often made it difficult to accept the fact that he was 98 years old.

The honors and awards bestowed upon Paul W. Klipsch are numerous and varied and in part due to his engineering genius according to the Klipsch web site. He was a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEE), The Audio Engineering Society (AES) and The Acoustical Society of America (ASA). He was listed in Who's Who in Engineering and Who's Who in Electronics. In 1978 he was awarded the Audio Engineering Society's Silver Medal "for innovative contributions to loudspeaker design and studies of acoustic distortion." He received an Honorary Doctor of Law Degree from New Mexico State University, in 1981. In 1983, he was inducted into the Audio Hall of Fame. He was named Citizen of the Year in the city of Hope in 1985. 1989 he received the Hi-Fi News Award for Achievement in Audio. 1993, 1994 and 1995 saw the Dedications of the Paul W. Klipsch Lecture Hall, the dedication of the Paul W. Klipsch Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and finally the Klipsch School of Electrical Engineering, all at New Mexico State University. The city of Hope again honored this great man in its dedication of the Paul W. Klipsch Municipal Auditorium June of 1995. In 1997 New Mexico State University dedicated the Klipsch Museum, providing a scholarly and entertaining view of engineering history. His most distinguished award was received in 1997, when he was inducted and enshrined in the Engineering and Science Hall of Fame for acoustic, ballistic and geophysical contributions and became memorialized with such members as Thomas Edison, Jonas Salk and the Wright Brothers. Each individual is honored for his or her outstanding achievement and contribution to society. He was recognized as a visionary whose perseverance has improved the quality of life for all humanity. As recent as 2001 he received the Award of Distinction from the Little Rock Arts and Humanities Promotion Commission.

Mr. Klipsch was also a man known for his wisdom, integrity, compassion, generosity and wit. He was a 33rd Degree Mason, a member of the Rotary Club since 1946. His philanthropic interests were far reaching. He was a long time benefactor and supporter of many organizations.

In a memorial Fred Klipsch reflected on the life of his cousin, "It has been said, and I firmly believe it, that every time you listen to recorded music you're hearing the passion, the genius and the legacy of Paul W. Klipsch. He was a verifiable genius who could have chosen any number of vocations, but the world sounds a lot better because he chose audio. And the integrity of Paul W. Klipsch was beyond reproach. He was a great man who always did the right thing in the right way."