KLH Model 20
Documentation on the KLH Model 20 is thin. There is no dedicated service literature, no period review in the major hi-fi magazines of its era, and no official KLH catalog page that has surfaced in the archive. What we know comes from surviving examples that still turn up at estate sales, on auction sites, and in the occasional forum post. It appears to have been a compact all-in-one music system: a turntable with an FM receiver section, paired with a set of two-way speakers. The turntable in at least one surviving example was a Garrard (spelled "Gerard" on the auction listing that documented it).
The speakers are the best-documented part of the system. The back of each cabinet reads "Omni Directional Two Way Air Suspension Speaker System Model No. SP 20," manufactured by the Consolidated Merchandising Co. They are 10-inch, 4-ohm drivers in a two-way air-suspension configuration, and the cabinets measure roughly 23 x 12 x 9 inches. One tested woofer measured 3.0 ohms at the voice coil. The system was sold with a manual and documentation. At least one owner on AudioCircle described picking up a complete unit - both speakers plus the turntable with FM section.
One eBay listing for original speaker grills dates the Model 20 to 1969. That is the only production-year attribution found. A service manual exists under the name "KLH Model 20 Receiver Tannenbaum" - the significance of "Tannenbaum" (German for "fir tree") is not documented anywhere in the record. There is also a "Model 20 Plus" variant that has appeared for sale at $750 restored, described by the seller as "really rare," but nothing is documented about how it differs from the base Model 20.
Known specifications, such as they are:
- System: all-in-one turntable + FM receiver + two speakers
- Speakers: Model SP 20, two-way, omni-directional, air suspension
- Woofer: 10-inch, 4 ohms (3.0 ohms measured at coil)
- Cabinet dimensions: 23 x 12 x 9 inches
- Turntable: Garrard (per one surviving example)
- Approximate year: 1969 (single listing attribution)
No original price, amplifier power rating, tuner specifications, or turntable details have been found. If you own a Model 20 and have the manual or any printed material, the archive would welcome the documentation.
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