KLH (company)

Last updated
KLH Audio
FormerlyKLH Research and Development Corporation; KLH Audio Systems
Industry Audio electronics
Founded1957;66 years ago (1957) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
Founders
Headquarters,
U.S.
OwnerKelley Global Brands
Website klhaudio.com
Model Eight Radio KLH Model Eight Radio - 8-16-07.jpg
Model Eight Radio
Model 41 Reel-to-Reel Tape Deck KLH Model 41 Reel-to-Reel Tape Deck.jpg
Model 41 Reel-to-Reel Tape Deck

KLH Audio is an American audio electronics company based in Noblesville, Indiana. [2] Originally founded in 1957 as KLH Research and Development Corporation in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the company takes its name from the initials of its founders: Henry Kloss, Malcolm S. Low, and Josef Anton Hofmann.

Contents

History

The original aim of the company was to design and produce loudspeakers in speaker enclosures. [3] KLH had sales of $17 million, employed over 500 people and sold over 30,000 speakers a year before it was sold to Singer Corporation in 1964. [4] In 1970, KLH became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Electro Audio Dynamics (EAD) of Great Neck, New York. [4] EAD moved KLH's headquarters to Canoga Park, Los Angeles, in 1980. [4]

Japanese conglomerate Kyocera acquired KLH in 1982, [5] and production was shifted overseas. Kyocera later decided to stop manufacturing audio products, and sought a buyer for the KLH brand. In 1989, KLH was acquired by Wald Sound of Sun Valley, Los Angeles. [5]

In 2003, Sony filed a lawsuit against KLH (then Lavcon, Inc., trading as KLH Audio Systems) asserting copyright infringement of a Sony home theater system. [6]

In January 2017, Kelley Global Brands bought the company and renamed it KLH Audio. [7] [8] The company makes premium high-end speakers.

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References

  1. "Malcolm Scollay Low". The New York Times . July 2015. Retrieved February 6, 2022 via Legacy.com.
  2. "Contact Us". klhaudio.com. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  3. Dritsas, David (January 2001). "Audio's Dedicated Servant. (Henry Kloss; Kloss Video Corp.)". Dealerscope: The Business of CE Retailing. Vol. 43, no. 1. p. 28.
  4. 1 2 3 Rosenberg, Ronald (September 18, 1980). "KLH is leaving for California". The Boston Globe . p. 34. Retrieved February 6, 2022 via newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 Blumenthal, Howard (September 30, 1989). "How to get older electronics fixed". The Herald Statesman . Yonkers, New York. United Feature Syndicate. p. B3. Retrieved February 6, 2022 via newspapers.com.
  6. "Sony Corporation Files Suit Against KLH Audio Systems". sony.com (Press release). June 9, 2003. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  7. "History". klhaudio.com. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  8. "About Us". klhaudio.com. Retrieved February 6, 2022.