KLH Model Five 3-way 10-inch Acoustic Suspension Floorstanding Speakers - Pair

"With almost every style of music and recording, the M5s engaged me and demanded my attention, framing music in bold shapes and tones." - Stereophile Magazine

"The M5 was a forensic instrument when needed and an audiophile speaker capable of reproducing rich, true-to-the-source sounds when desired." - Stereophile Magazine

KLH Audio was established in 1957 by Henry Kloss, Malcolm Low & Josef Hofmann. Henry Kloss first made his name as part of Acoustic Research with the introduction of the AR-1 and its patented acoustic suspension system that revolutionized the high-fidelity industry. Henry Kloss later left Acoustic Research to start KLH, and immediately began marketing his own acoustic suspension loudspeaker designs. The original KLH Model Five loudspeaker was first introduced in 1968 and was one of the best-selling speakers throughout the late 1960s and early ’70s.

KLH re-issued the famous Model Five during the spring of 2021. This new three-way loudspeaker features updated cosmetics, as well as all the major advancements in transducer design that have occurred over the last 50 years. But the original acoustic suspension philosophy, cabinet construction, and size all remain intact, thus maintaining the performance and appeal the loudspeaker enjoyed when it was first introduced.

Features:

• Iconic Mid-Century Modern Styling
• Acoustic Suspension Design - The most accurate and linear enclosure design available today
• Three-Position Acoustic Balance Control to tailor the loudspeaker's output for the most difficult acoustic environments
• Dedicated midrange driver to reproduce the critical mid-frequency band
• Non-Resonant Die-Cast Aluminum Midrange & Woofer Frames
• Machined Aluminum 1" tweeter faceplate
• KLH cabinetry featuring a structurally reinforced 3/4" MDF Enclosure
• Thirteen Component network using high-quality iron-core inductors & Mylar capacitors
• Each speaker includes its own 5º slant riser base made of powder-coated 14-gauge steel 
• Low-Profile Magnet Attached Grille
• 10-Year Warranty

Acoustic Suspension

First introduced in 1954, the acoustic suspension principle has long been regarded as the most accurate of all the loudspeaker designs available. Edgar Villchur and Henry Kloss worked together to bring the original AR-1, and several later models, including the well-known AR-3, to market. Several brands, including KLH, would adopt the acoustic suspension principle and use it in their loudspeakers designs for many years to come. This design principle dominated the speaker market well into the 1970s.

In an acoustic suspension design, the volume of air inside the enclosure serves as a cushion of air, or air spring, to provide a restoring force for the woofer cone. The air inside the enclosure essentially becomes the dominant part of the woofer’s suspension. Since the volume of air inside the enclosure is more linear than the mechanical parts of the woofer’s suspension, this enables the woofer’s diaphragm to move in a more linear fashion. This enables the driver to operate at higher excursions with less distortion than more traditional bass-reflex type systems. Acoustic suspension systems are regarded all over the world for their greater accuracy, tighter bass transients, and exceptional bass resolution and texture.

Dedicated Midrange Driver

The KLH Model Five is a 3-way design featuring a dedicated midrange driver housed in its own internal enclosure. It’s the midrange driver’s responsibility to handle the most significant, middle part, of the audio spectrum. This portion of the audio band contains the vocal and musical instrument fundamentals which are most familiar to the human ear; and where accuracy, or inaccuracies, are most easily detected. In a three-way design, having a dedicated midrange means the driver can be optimized for this specific use since it doesn’t have the additional burden of reproducing lower & higher frequencies in the audio band. This results in truly remarkable clarity of vocals & instruments with less distortion.