Jim Hunter

Jim Hunter grew up in West Virginia and southern Ohio. He was graduated with the degree of BSEE in 1974 from the West Virginia Institute of Technology. He is an AES member and a Life Member of the IEEE. After a few years as a transducer engineer at Rola-Jensen in Cleveland, Jim moved to the Land of Opportunity (Arkansas) to work in the same capacity for Paul W. Klipsch and Klipsch & Associates. In a few years Klipsch & Associates began manufacturing their own woofers, tweeters and compression drivers. Jim took on many other roles over 38 years, including Production Engineer, Quality Control, Program Manager, Design Engineering Manager and eventually Historian. Even at the beginning of his Klipsch employment, Jim became involved with the history of the man, the company and the industry at large. Paul Klipsch had a collection of artifacts that was quickly expanded to become the Klipsch Museum of Audio History. Paul’s open-door policy and freely accessible archives were capitalized upon to extract a wealth of company history, as well as his personal history.

Jim is a collector (some say hoarder) of tools, antique glass and several other “collections”. Fortunately his wife of 44 years, Becky, tolerates and participates to some degree in these obsessions. In retirement, Jim will be leading the Klipsch Heritage Museum Association, a non-profit organization, to continue the tribute to Paul W. Klipsch and his engineering legacy.

Richard Groves

Proud Father of three and Grandfather of two beautiful children. Raised in Florida with education in Management, Marketing and Banking.

Forty years experience in the wine and spirits business including retail, wholesale and manufacturing. Experiences include sales, management and executive positions for a diverse group of companies including Kobrand Corp., LVMH (Chandon Group), Italian Wineries Group, Boisset Collection, McKesson Corp.,  Southern Wine & Spirits and Illva Saronno.

Hobbies include resort redevelopment including Relais and Chateaux, Marriott and Wyndham. Positions from consultant for the largest single site privately owned beverage operation to President of 1145 room resort with a 50 million annual operations budget. Currently serve as President of a recently awarded "World Class Resort", Vice President of 2016 "Top Resort" and Treasurer for resort deemed 2016 Most Improved.

Founding USA instructor for the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (Master of Wine program)

Past charitable works include financial and advisory capacities for Florida Atlantic University Arts Council, Food for the Poor, and sponsor for numerous organizations. National Officer in charge of "Missions and Projects" for the Chaine des Rotisseurs. The Chaine is the world's oldest and largest food and wine society.

Eagle Scout

Kevin Harmon

Dr. E. Kevin Harmon began practicing Dentistry in 1985 in the city of Scott, LA. After graduating from Acadiana High School in 1978, Dr. Harmon attended the University of Southwestern Louisiana from 1978 through 1981 and graduated from LSU School of Dentistry in 1985. Dr. Harmon was class president his senior year in Dental School and worked closely with faculty and the administration concerning student affairs. Dr. Harmon has been practicing Dentistry with his partner Dr. Thomas for 31 years and is deeply involved in continuing education in order to stay abreast of developing technology in the dental field.

Christy Luquet

Christy Luquet and her husband, Elden Luquet, Jr. are lifelong residents of the south Louisiana/south Mississippi area. They have three daughters and seven grandchildren. Her hobbies include spending time with her daughters and their families, music, reading, gardening, sewing and travel. After completion of her studies at Slidell Technical College, where she majored in marketing/business administration, Christy pursued a career in the insurance industry. After obtaining her licenses in property and casualty, as well as life and health she opened an independent insurance agency. As a producer for several insurance companies she received numerous awards for outstanding sales and service to her customers.

After selling her insurance agency, she decided to pursue a career in the landscape industry. She obtained her designation as a licensed landscape contractor and partnered with her husband to begin her new career path. As a team Christy and Elden specialized in custom home landscape design and build, as well as small to medium construction landscape design and build. Their successful thirteen year business was built solely on referrals. The devastation Hurricane Katrina brought to their community, combined with Elden’s mother’s failing health lead to yet another career change. Today, Christy and her husband are the owners of an exclusive online boutique. Christy has focused her efforts on designing and manufacturing exclusive designs in children’s clothing, monogramming and embroidery. With the help and support of her husband Elden, they have expanded the business to include rustic signs, glass etching and exclusive vinyl designs.

Shortly after their first purchase of Klipsch speakers in 2005 Christy joined the Klipsch forums. In 2007 she became a moderator of the Klipsch online community, where she holds the position of senior moderator. In 2015 she accepted the challenge of organizing the 70 th Anniversary Klipsch Pilgrimage in Hope, AR. The event broke all previous attendance records with over 150 Klipsch fans making the annual trek.

Christy will tell you that she is fortunate to have had the opportunity to pursue not one, but two careers in areas that she considers to be hobbies. Elden and Christy’s home in Picayune, MS is a true testament to their love of music, landscape and gardening. Their outdoor space includes a 320 square foot Tiki bar, powered by Klipsch Heresy speakers and is surrounded by a landscaped oasis, including a water garden complete with Japanese Koi.

T. Paul Jacobs

T. Paul Jacobs is CEO of Klipsch Group, Inc., a subsidiary of VOXX International (NASDAQ: VOXX) and leading global manufacturer of premium sound solutions for the consumer and professional markets. With Jacobs at the helm of the company’s Klipsch, Jamo and Energy brands. Klipsch Group has taken significant steps in its product development and marketing efforts. He has helped the company enter numerous new product categories including soundbars, wireless speakers and gaming headsets while continuing advanced innovation on the company’s original core business of loudspeakers. He has also been instrumental in reuniting the Klipsch brand with its live music roots through a partnership with Live Nation Entertainment that has resulted in concert venue sponsorship through North America. To further establish its unwavering commitment to live music, the brand also served as the title sponsor of the Kings of Leon’s 2014 Mechanical Bull Tour presented by Klipsch Audio under his guidance.

Prior to being named CEO in March 2011 upon the company’s acquisition, he served as president and chief operating officer of Klipsch Group and was responsible for all company operations. In years past, he progressed through several executive level positions at Klipsch, including president of the Klipsch and Jamo brands, executive vice president and chief operating officer, company vice president and vice president of worldwide sales. With more than 20 years of experience from within the company, Jacobs has worked his way through the ranks and earned a reputation as a trusted and respected leader in the audio industry.

Before Klipsch Group, he worked as a sales manager for Lyons & Associates, a consumer electronics rep firm, and as regional sales manager for Fretter Appliance. Altogether, Jacobs’ career represents significant retail, manufacturing, sales and management experience totaling over 30 years.

Jacobs’ love for quality sound and music does not end with his day job. As an avid music enthusiast, he is constantly immersed in his favorite artists’ albums and has attended hundreds of concerts around the world. Additionally, he holds deep passions for travel, food, wine and cycling..

Matt Sommers

Matt Sommers is an Indianapolis-based composer, musician, visual artist and producer. A 25- year veteran of the consumer electronics industry, he is also a media-agnostic designer, photographer, creator and editor – focused on marketing and communications.

Some NOTABLES

• Board of Directors -Girls Rock, Indy

• Herron School of Art + Design Alumnus

• 48 Hour Film Project Winner: Best Film, Audience Favorite

• Primary Colours’ Installation Nation: Best in Show

• Award-winning music producer and sound engineer

• Created and administered the first Sound Fundamentals and Digital Recording class - Ivy Tech

• Creative Director, Klipsch Audio for 20+ years

Roy Delgado

Roy Delgado Jr. was born in Donna, TX in 1962. He received a BSEE from the University of Texas at Austin in 1985. Upon graduation, he went to work for Klipsch and Associates in 1986 as a design engineer for the professional and consumer products divisions. He currently is the principle engineer for the professional products division and has designed, and helps the sales team with, products for the cinema, distributed sound and permanent install markets. He also holds several patents in the acoustic field. His beloved mentor was Paul W. Klipsch and he continues to hope to gain his acceptance and his approval on the products and research in acoustics that he does. His interests include a closer relationship with God, the pursuit of the ever-elusive largemouth bass, getting back into live/recording music and continual tinkering with the acoustic horn and its parts and pieces.

Luther Ward

Luther M. Ward is a native Texan and still resides in the Lone Star State with his wife Rose and their two dogs. His lifelong love of music and electronics stems from having a father who was both an electronics instructor in the USAF and a musician. Luther built his first console stereo in 9 th grade wood shop.

He graduated from the University of Houston with a BBA in finance in 1984 but has spent almost his entire career in electronics. His early work started as a bench tech for Sable Electronics repairing consumer electronics. He moved to Southwest Research Institute in 1989 working first in automotive research on engine control and active suspension systems. He went on to work for the Space Sciences and Electromagnetics groups, where he worked on deep space satellites, LeoSat tracking & surveillance, and combat Direction Finding. After a decade in R&D, he left to work with several other ex-SwRI employees to form SecureLogix working on unified communications security and management systems. After a quantum shift in industry, these days Luther finds himself tranquil in the corrugated packaging industry. All along the way, Luther followed his passion for audio on many different levels; listening to music, building both solid state and tube amplifiers and preamplifiers, repairing audio gear, and combining his wood working hobby to build speakers, audio equipment cabinets and system stands. Most evenings you may find him listening to music on one of his systems.

Ian Moore

Ian Moore, was born in Dallas, Texas but grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas. He lives in Little Rock with his wife Stacey Atchison. They are currently renovating a home from the late 1800’s in Downtown Little Rock, which takes up much of their spare time

He is currently working for Arkansas Urology as Chief Technology Officer but has been in the IT medical industry for almost twenty years. Previous employers include University Of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas Children’s Hospital in positions from database administrator to communications manager.

Ian grew up listening to Klipsch speakers at friends and families homes in Little Rock. This set the standard by which he judged all sound systems. He eventually owned every speaker in the legendary Klipsch Heritage line and some in the pro cinema line. He joined the Klipsch forum in 2001 after meeting local Klipsch fan Tony Reed and attended many early Klipsch pilgrimages in Hope, AR and never missed an opportunity for an audio history lesson from Roy Delgado or Jim Hunter. This is where he learned of the Klipsch Jubilee, which is currently his favorite speaker of all time.

Ian also runs a Hi-Fi blog and enjoys retro style DIY Hi-Fi projects such as building triode tube amplifiers. His most recent project is a replica of the Brook Electronics 12A which was one of PWK’s favorite amplifiers.

Stacey Atchison

Stacey Atchison grew up in the Southeast coast of Florida and the Northeast corner of Arkansas.  She graduated from the University of Central Arkansas.  She is a CPA with more than twenty years of experience in public accounting.  She specializes in the areas of tax and accounting outsourcing and works with closely held businesses, corporations, individuals, and not-for-profit entities.

Her husband (trustee, Ian Moore) introduced her to Klipsch when he took her to her first pilgrimage in Hope, Arkansas in 2012.  She has learned to appreciate speakers that are almost bigger than her Honda Civic and has occasionally complained about sound quality when listening to music from non-Klipsch speakers. When the museum was formed Ian stated “Hey, the museum needs a CPA to help out”….  Stacey currently serves as treasurer of the museum. During her free time, she likes to travel, bake, and assist with not-for-profit accounting endeavors.

Denise Kidd Cooper

Denise Cooper serves as Secretary on the Board of Trustees and on the Executive Committee. A native Memphian, Denise graduated from the University of Memphis in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism/Public Relations.

Her career began as editor of the Defense Depot Memphis, Tennessee, base newspaper before moving into the environmental office to support the Depot’s Superfund environmental cleanup project. Since then the Depot closed, but Denise continues providing community relations and project management support to the cleanup project with engineering firm HDR Incorporated, the Department of Army contractor.

Denise always loved music, grew up in a music-loving household, and performed in her high school choir. Then she met Tim Cooper, the Klipsch speaker fan. Some of their earliest dates were listening to Klipsch speakers at Modern Music Audio in Memphis. Their wedding gifts to each other were a pair of Chorus IIs that are still in use today. For their 25th wedding anniversary, Tim treated Denise to their first Klipsch Pilgrimage and a pair of Jubilees. Tim began supporting the Museum at the Watermelon Festival and as part of the Neon computer system team, and he dragged Denise right along with him – she didn’t kick and scream too loudly!

While Tim is the true Klipsch aficionado, Denise certainly enjoys the sounds emitting from their many Klipsch speakers. Except for the bathrooms, every room in their home contains Klipsch speakers even their two children’s bedrooms! Their collection includes Chorus II, Jubilee, Heresy, Epic, CF3, RF3, The Three, RB51, RB10, Promedia 4.2 THX, Promedia GMX D-5.1, Promedia Ultra 2.0, Klipsch 5.1 Dream System, Mode M40 and various other Klipsch headphones, and the newest addition - KPT-1502-HLS. Yes, our house is a-rocking, or a-jazzing, or a-swinging depending on what Tim pulls out of the album bins!