Speaker specialist Klipsch claims that ‘wood is good’ with its new range of furniture-grade home cinema speakers in exotic wood finishes. The Icon W (that’s ‘W’ as in ‘wood’) series is designed to be slim and unobtrusive, yet deliver outstanding sound.
The company is putting its hi-fi faith in a new technology it calls the XT Tractrix Horn. This augments Klipsch’s long-established horn speakers by altering the surface geometry of the horn with four “bumps” that are shaped like flower petals. The technology is intended to create a wider dispersion pattern offering greater freedom of placement of the speakers.
The Icon W Series features five models: the WF-35 and WF-34 floorstanding speakers, the WB-14 bookshelf speaker, the WC-24 centre channel and the WS-24 surround speaker. The WF-35 and WF-34 floorstanders each have three woven fibreglass cone woofers (5.25in and 4.5in respectively) with ceramic motor structures to improve bass output. A premium 25mm titanium tweeter mated to an 80-degree by 80-degree round XT Horn delivers the high frequencies and all are covered by single-piece magnetic grilles. The WB-14 bookshelf uses one 4.5in fiberglass cone woofer, while the WC-24 center channel and WS-24 surround have two. All of these models use 1in titanium diaphragm compression drivers with 80-degree by 80-degree round XT Horns. A threaded insert on the WB-14 and dual keyhole brackets on the WS-24 allow for wall mount applications. Klipsch suggests its existing XW-500d (500w/10in driver) or XW-300d (300w/8in) subwoofers for additional bass output.
Going against the grain of domestically sourced wood veneers such as cherry, oak and maple, the Icon W series features an exotic, non-endangered Berlinia veneer from West Africa, which has a strong, graphic grain in espresso or cabernet finishes. Mark Casavant, vice president of product development for Klipsch, said: “Icon W is intended for consumers who buy with both their eyes and ears. When compared to traditional box products, these speakers are more refined, take up less space yet still deliver the high-output, low-distortion sound Klipsch is known for.”
- Klipsch WF-35 (floorstanders): £1198 a pair
- Klipsch WF-34 (floorstanders): £1058 a pair
- Klipsch WB-14 (bookshelf): £479 a pair
- Klipsch Icon WC-24 (centre): £429
- Klipsch WS-24 (surround): £598 a pair
- Klipsch XW-300d (300w subwoofer): £629