KLH Model 8 (c. 1964–1970)
The KLH Model 8 is a portable compact stereo system — a single cabinet containing a 4-speed Garrard automatic turntable fitted with a Pickering magnetic cartridge, a solid-state amplifier putting out 5 watts per channel, and a pair of speakers built around a 10-inch acoustic suspension woofer and a 4-inch tweeter. It was one of the first portable systems to use acoustic-suspension speakers, which let a relatively small enclosure produce genuinely deep bass. The full-range driver from the Model 8 FM radio version was still being remembered fondly decades later; Audio (March 1995, p.82) called it a classic Henry Kloss design.
The Model Eight was a follow-up to the KLH Model 11, positioned as a more affordable, portable version, and it sold for $200 new. Production years are given as 1965 to 1968 in some sources and 1964 to 1970 in others; the record isn't settled. What is consistent is the praise: owners describe the sound as remarkably good, with one Audiokarma member noting his pair "sound great" in their original, complete state.
Surviving documentation is otherwise thin — no weight, dimensions, distortion figures, or service details have surfaced. The system was encased in a single portable cabinet, and the low-frequency boost in the amplifier was deliberately voiced to compensate for the speaker response, a design choice High Fidelity (February 1961, p.57) noted in its measurements of the related Model 8 receiver. For a compact all-in-one from the mid-sixties, the Model 8 remains a respected piece of KLH's portable line, even if much of its technical paperwork hasn't survived.
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