Klipsch sells Aragon (the amps, not the ranger)

Klipsch just announced that it has sold Aragon and Acurus, two high-end brands of amps, pre-amps, and processors. The two product names have been sold to two former Klipsch employees for development and marketing.

Indy Audio Labs, founded by former Klipsch engineers Rick Santiago and Ted Moore, will take control of the Aragon and Acurus brands. Not only will it develop any new Aragon or Acurus products, but it will also take responsibility for service and support for existing models. Starting May 18, when consumer call the Aragon or Arcusus tech support lines ((866) 781-7284 and (914) 693-800, respectively), they will immediately be transferred to Indy Audio Labs'.

— Will Greenwald

Klipsch Connects to DTV Debacle

While the transition to DTV is delayed again, it's still coming — like it or not. Speaker manufacturer Klipsch is jumping on the transition bandwagon, using the switch as an excuse to upsell your audio system.

From an article on TWICE: “We plan to do a consumer email marketing campaign surrounding this topic, and we are starting to put ‘A High-Def Picture Demands High-Def Sound’ logo on our boxes,” a spokeswoman said.

“As we position ourselves as the authority on 5.1 sound,” the spokeswoman said, “Klipsch is addressing the weakening economy by launching three HD Theater packages, which will sell at price points that are among the lowest in company history.” The $899-suggested HD Theater 1000, $599-suggested HD Theater 500 and $399 HD Theater 300 will launch in February, March and April, respectively. The systems, which feature five speakers and a powered subwoofer. will be available through Klipsch’s authorized mass and specialty dealers. Information about the three HD Theater systems will be added to the web site soon, she noted.

Does someone need to remind Klipsch that the switch to DTV does NOT mean everything will be HDTV. But, I'll bet there stuff sounds pretty good on Standard Def TV too.  --Leslie Shapiro

TWICE

Big Speakers; Classic Sound

And you thought all speakers these days were small, plastic, and skinny. Well, most speakers are small, plastic, and skinny. Not so these classic beauties from Klipsch. The Icon W series are big and heavy, the way Paul Wilbur Klipsch meant speakers to be.

Givin' It Away: Free Zune's for All

Look out your window. See any frost? Apparently, hell hath frozen over. This is something that we would never have thought we'd see. Most MP3 manufacturers bundle in headphones, sometimes really good headphones with their portable players. In a complete 180-degree shift, now you can buy really great headphones, the Klipsch IMAGE in-ear buds, with a Microsoft Zune 4GB player thrown in. For free! Yup. Zip, nada, bupkes, zilch. If you ever wondered how Microsoft was doing against Apple in the portable digital music player arena, this is pretty telling. These Klipsch IMAGE headphones retail for the same $349 price elsewhere, but keep reading to see where you can get them with a free Zune.