Hi-fi, made in Cambridge.

KLH Research and Development Corporation was founded in Cambridge in 1957 by Henry Kloss, Malcolm S. Low, and Josef Anton Hofmann—the initials gave the company its name.¹ Its history belongs to the remarkable stretch of New England audio engineering that put ambitious loudspeakers and electronics into ordinary homes.

The company’s story includes the Model Eight radio, Model Nine electrostatic loudspeaker, Model Forty tape recorder, and Model Eleven portable phonograph.¹ That range is part of the charm. A radio by the bed, a serious pair of loudspeakers, or records carried to a friend’s house: good listening could fit into everyday life.

Where does the system live? Is it easy to turn on? Does the furniture invite you to choose another side? Those questions matter as much in a small apartment as they do in a dedicated listening room. The equipment earns its place when listening becomes a habit instead of a demonstration.

Symphony Hall tells a story about architecture and reverberation on a grand scale. KLH brings the focus home to reproduced sound, useful products, and daily life. Between those stories is a local tradition of paying attention—to the room, the object, and the person pressing play.

Our shop is in Andover, beneath Holt Hill Audio, and our work continues the regional habit of asking practical questions about listening and making. A new project might begin with a vintage cabinet, a custom rack, a difficult room, or a memory of a system that made music feel newly alive.