In time for the High End Vienna 2026 showcase this week, American hi-fi brand KLH Audio has added a fresh pair of large standmount speakers to its vintage-inspired Model Collection range.
The new Model Four is a three-way speaker with a wide baffle and shallow cabinet depth – a design profile that allows customers to place the speakers close to a wall.
The Model Four features an 8-inch (20.3cm) pulp-paper cone bass driver (derived from the smaller Model Three 'bookshelf' speaker), and has the same 25mm aluminium dome tweeter, pulp-paper cone midrange driver and crossover architecture as the step-up, larger Model Five. Put together, this all should, claims KLH, offer "refined vocal presence, midrange clarity and high-frequency detail".
Additionally, the Model Four come with a three-position Acoustic Balance Control – which was originally introduced by KLH in the 1960s – which allows you to adjust the mid and high frequency to fine-tune the speakers' sound to the room's acoustics and your own tastes.
The structurally reinforced MDF cabinet eschews a ported design in favour of KLH's "acoustic suspension" technology, which essentially means it's a sealed box that uses the springy air inside the cabinet to control how much the drive unit moves.
This promises "tight, accurate bass" even when placed a few inches from a rear wall. KLH further claims this design should sound "consistent and accurate" no matter where you place it in the room.
Aiding that room-friendly design is the 13-inch wide front baffle and a shallow cabinet depth of just 8.25 inches (about 21cm). The speakers also come with a dedicated riser (stand) that offers a 6-degree slant to align the tweeter and midrange to the listener's position.
Combined with the retro-modern aesthetic (which puts us in mind of the Wharfedale Linton and Mission 770), the Model Four's narrow cabinet design is intended to fit into "the living rooms of apartments, lofts and condos where it must coexist with real life, in first homes and forever".
KLH Audio's CEO Scott Hagen says: "This is not a bookshelf speaker, nor is it simply a smaller Model Five. It is a distinctive, full-range acoustic-suspension loudspeaker, meticulously built to deliver the natural, controlled and room-friendly sound that defines KLH in a form that fits more homes, rooms and listeners."
KLH Audio Model Four will cost £899 / €999 / $1000 for each speaker ($2000 per pair) when they are available from September, with the riser stands included. The speakers will be available in three finishes: English Walnut, Black Ash and White Oak, with magnetic grilles included in the box.
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High End Vienna 2026: all the news and what to expect from Europe's biggest hi-fi show
