Customer Reviews

Paul Wilbur Klipsch the Life...the Legend

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is one of the worst biographies I have ever read. In fact is it not a biography of Paul Klipsch at all. It is a tribute to him by his second wife, ghost written by the authors. Paul's life before his second wife hardly exists. We learn almost nothing of his life with his first wife. Worse, the technical aspects of Paul's life are almost ignored. Paul W. Klipsch was a great engineer, an entrepreneur, and a great man for what he did with his money (an Engineering school is named after him for his extensive support). But what made all this possible were the technical innovations which he brought to the audio industry, and these nontechnical authors don't have a clue what that is all about. So this is not a biography of Paul W. Klipsch. A better title would be "My Life with Paul W. Klipsch" by his Second Wife.

I bought this book intending to dislpay it near my vintage stereo system that features a pair of Klipsch La Scala speakers. That will not be happening. This book is amateurishly written and poorly edited. Stories are told and then repeated again at length only pages later. The authors set up each chapter by describing some virtuous attribute of this man they so obviously adore and then proceed to describe someone quite the opposite (for example, they report that the "extremely open minded" Mr. Klipsch impulsively ripped the radio out of his car to avoid listening to music that was not to his tastes). Remove the "filler" - pages of patent specifications, pictures, lists of awards - and there remains precious little content, far less than one would expect in summarizing the life of such a legendary personality.

The authors of this poorly written biography may have met the man in his twilight years and obviously garnered their information from very limited resources. Therfore only a mere part of the real story has been told and indeed a biased one at that. P. Wilbur, as his closest associates knew him, was robbed of his legacy by a bunch of wannabes and they told their side of the story which is now in print for their own benefit. I gave it one star for the fact that it does document some of his achievements.

This is the clumsiest, most poorly written hardcover I have ever read. The last chapter, amazingly worst than the others, is totally incoherent. I have no idea how this could have gotten published. From what I know of Paul Klipsch and his personality, having only spent one evening with him, I believe he would find this book an utter embarrassment,

That said, if you're interested in some tidbits about the life of Paul Klipsch there are a lot of them here. But be forewarned, it reads exactly like sorting through a shoebox full of miscellaneous notes and scraps of paper.

I will assume you know who and what Klipsch is if you are reading this review. If you don't, Paul W. Klipsch is one on the pioneers of audio and so, so, so much more, the book will tell you everything. Klipsch is a large speaker company started over 50 years ago and is flourishing to this day. The most famous product is the $6,000 Klipschorn, and is still sold today, over 50 years after it was introduced by Paul W. Klipsch.

The book is great, it gives his life's story, like any biography would and is fascinating, this man is like a god in the way he lived his life and helped others. The rest of the book is a detailed look at his many patents and other technical information. Many pictures are included. Also, the many stories and quotes from Klipsch let you get inside his head.

If you are even slightly interested in audio, this book will be a treat. I have a feeling this book will end its printing life eventually (look at the sales rank...), so you might want to buy it while it is available.

Another reviewer described this book as "fluffy." It is that, true, but PWK was such an interesting character that some of the actual "him" does come through in the book notwithstanding the fandom adoration of the authors. PWK's World War II period that the authors describe shows evidence of some research and is quite illuminating of PWK as an imaginative engineer then involved in ballistics. The book's photos and reproduced old Klipsch advertisements are also of interest. The man PWK must have been a pistol, a real personality, and that does come through in the book despite its other shortcomings. As for PWK's famous Klipschorn loudspeaker, well, I have a pair together with one of his Belle loudspeakers and all three are destined to be family heirlooms. This book will find a place atop one of them.

Over all I found this book to be very enjoyable and a bit difficult to follow as it jumps around with no real structure. I would recommend this to the Klipsch speaker enthusiasts who want to place this on their coffee table. I would give this 3 ¾ stars out of 5. I'm still searching for ultimate Klipsch book that covers timelines, facts, pictures, and speaker articles and a lot less fluff.

If you want to read a biography about a great american hero and visionary this is it. Complete with his patents, original letters and humor. I never new the total story about this wonderful man but I do now. Does not bog down with alot of nothing information but rather keeps a good pace and has so much information in these 200 plus pages you have to read it like I have, 3 times already!!! I keep picking up new things all of the time. I especially liked the old vintage Klipsch ads which were so much a look-see into Paul's personality. A must read for anyone not just audiophiles.