McLaren shows its racing stripes on Klipsch Audio's latest powered speakers

Klipsch Audio is an American firm that specialises in home theatres, cinema installations and portable audio. The Indianapolis-based company has partnered with the Surrey-based McLaren Formula 1 team on limited series editions of its wireless headphones, but this new powered speaker system are the first standalone products to bear the McLaren Racing name.

Klipsch is an all-American brand, with 75 years of history and a proud record of building its products in the US, starting out in Arkansas (now the home of the Klipsch Museum). Indeed, the company still manufactures its Heresy IV floorstanding speaker in Hope, 65 years after the original was introduced as the first centre channel speaker. 

The Fives McLaren Edition powered speakers combine the Klipsch ethos of high-quality materials and handcrafted cabinetry with the high-tech pursuit of performance embodied by McLaren.

Designed to be multi-purpose speakers that can bolster a TV set-up, stream from mobile devices via Bluetooth, or output to a subwoofer to be part of a larger set-up, The Fives McLaren Edition incorporate a high-resolution audio DSP. The woofer cone is former from carbon fibre, which the company’s audio engineers creates a ‘detailed, deep, dynamic bass [with] decreased distortion [and] a big, bold sound stage.’

The speakers have a hand-applied matte black finish, with McLaren’s vibrant Papaya Orange incorporated into the design, including on the tweeters, control panel and cables. There’s another nod to the F1 paddock, with a stability pad that mimics racing tyre tread patterns. Klipsch also has its own Connect app, which gives you a bunch of different sonic options, as well as over the air firmware updates.

2022 is Klipsch’s 76th year. In comparison, McLaren Racing is a comparative spring chicken, having being founded in 1963 by the New Zealand racing driver Bruce McLaren. At the firm’s high-tech HQ in Woking, a stuffed trophy cabinet attests to its 20 Formula 1 World Championships and over 180 Formula 1 Grand Prix wins. This year, McLaren Racing is making its debut in Extreme E racing, the all-electric off-road series. This’ll require a brand-new kind of racing car, the first off-roader to wear the McLaren badge, the Odyssey 21. Perhaps Klipsch will create a new kind of partnership to celebrate the event.

Klipsch The Fives McLaren Edition powered speakers are available for £1,349 per pair.

Read more at Klipsch.com, and Speed of Sound, the Klipsch x McLaren partnership.

This article is part of The T3 Edit, a collaboration between T3 and Wallpaper* which explores the very best blends of design, craft, and technology. Wallpaper* magazine is the world’s leading authority on contemporary design and The T3 Edit is your essential guide to what’s new and what’s next.