Klang + Ton – Präsenzbereich

Few hi-fi magazines have built their identity as clearly around making things yourself as KLANG+TON magazine. First published in Germany in 1986, KLANG+TON developed into one of the best-known specialist publications for DIY loudspeakers, speaker building, loudspeaker drivers and high-end audio projects. Instead of simply telling readers which finished loudspeaker to buy, the magazine took a different route. It showed what happens inside a loudspeaker, why a design works, how drivers behave and how an enthusiast can build a serious music system with his or her own hands. Almost four decades later, that practical approach is still what makes KLANG+TON important to me.

From hi-fi magazine to loudspeaker-building institution

The first issue appeared in 1986, at a time when hi-fi was already a large consumer market but DIY audio still had an unusually strong following in Germany. KLANG+TON found its place by concentrating on the loudspeaker itself, arguably the most personal and variable part of any audio system. Over the years, its pages have covered compact two-way speakers, large floorstanders, horn systems, subwoofers, full-range designs, PA-inspired projects, home cinema speakers and more experimental constructions. The magazine has also regularly addressed amplifier projects using both tube and transistor technology, but loudspeaker construction has remained its central subject.

What made the format valuable was that a KLANG+TON project was never simply a photograph of a finished cabinet accompanied by a listening impression. The magazine combined construction plans, crossover information, measurements, driver tests and practical building instructions. Woodworking, wiring, cabinet damping and crossover construction were all treated as genuine parts of the audio process. That distinction matters. Anyone can say that a speaker sounds open, warm or detailed, but KLANG+TON has traditionally tried to show readers what is happening technically and how they can reproduce the design themselves.

Its archives reveal just how substantial that history has become. The publisher has promoted a digital archive covering 1986 to 1999 containing more than 80 complete issues, over 300 loudspeaker kits and more than 75 early “Cheap Trick” projects. Those numbers say something important about the magazine’s role. KLANG+TON was not built around a handful of famous reviews. It created a continuous technical library for generations of people interested in designing and building loudspeakers.

One of its most recognisable traditions is the Cheap Trick series. The name is deliberately modest, but the concept became much more important than the title suggests. Cheap Trick designs explored how much musical performance could be obtained without automatically choosing the most expensive drivers and crossover parts. By 2006, KLANG+TON itself described the series of affordable in-house designs as having already run successfully for more than fifteen years. For me, that captures one of the healthiest ideas in hi-fi: good engineering and intelligent choices can matter more than price alone.

Measurement, building and listening belong together

KLANG+TON has always occupied an interesting position between engineering and enthusiasm. The magazine has its own measurement work and regularly tests individual loudspeaker drivers as well as complete kits. A typical project can therefore move from frequency response and impedance to crossover design, cabinet dimensions and finally listening. That combination is particularly useful in an audio world where measurement and subjective listening are sometimes presented as opposing camps.

I have never believed they need to be enemies. Measurements can tell me a great deal about what a loudspeaker is doing, but they do not tell the whole story of how I experience music in a room. Listening without technical information has the opposite limitation. KLANG+TON’s importance lies partly in keeping those two sides connected. Build the cabinet, understand the driver, examine the crossover, measure the result and then sit down and listen to music through it.

That educational role may be even more valuable today. Modern hi-fi consumers can buy active loudspeakers containing DSP, streaming, amplification and room correction in one cabinet. That convenience is fantastic, but it also means much of the technology has disappeared from view. DIY loudspeaker building does the opposite. It forces you to understand cabinet volume, resonance, driver behaviour, crossover slopes, impedance and dispersion. Suddenly a loudspeaker is no longer a mysterious box. It becomes an understandable combination of mechanical, electrical and acoustic decisions.

This is one reason speaker building and DIY audio continue to attract enthusiasts even when buying a finished loudspeaker would be easier. Building something changes the relationship with the system. Choosing a woofer or tweeter, cutting the cabinet panels, assembling the crossover and finally hearing music from the finished design creates a level of involvement that cannot simply be ordered online.

KLANG+TON has also made room for its readers. Earlier issues regularly showed reader-built loudspeakers and complete construction sequences, sometimes including designs inspired by projects published many years before. A 2007 issue, for example, featured a reader who had been building loudspeakers for more than 25 years and had followed KLANG+TON from its early days. That continuity between magazine, designer and reader helped create a genuine DIY audio community rather than a publication that simply spoke to consumers from a distance.

Why KLANG+TON still matters

The current magazine remains recognisably connected to those roots. Thomas Schmidt is editor-in-chief, and KLANG+TON continues to publish six print issues per year alongside its digital editions. Recent editions still include KLANG+TON’s own loudspeaker designs, kit tests, vintage loudspeaker subjects and measurements of new drivers. The 2026 issues show that the basic formula has not been abandoned for something fashionable: loudspeakers are still built, measured, explained and listened to.

At the same time, the magazine has moved beyond paper. In 2025 KLANG+TON expanded its video activities with a dedicated YouTube series covering kit tests, construction reports, loudspeaker drivers, basic technical explanations and looks behind the scenes at the editorial operation. That is a logical development for this particular subject. Loudspeaker building is inherently visual, and watching a cabinet or crossover take shape can sometimes explain more quickly than several pages of text.

For me, however, the real importance of KLANG+TON magazine is not that it has survived since 1986. Longevity alone does not make a publication relevant. What matters is that KLANG+TON represents a part of audiophile culture that deserves to survive: curiosity. It encourages people to ask why one tweeter behaves differently from another, why cabinet dimensions matter, what a crossover actually does and why two technically competent loudspeakers can still sound very different.

That also gives KLANG+TON a special place among high-end audio magazines. Much of the high-end industry naturally revolves around finished products, new models and increasingly expensive equipment. KLANG+TON reminds us that excellent sound does not have to begin with a large cheque. It can begin with a pair of drivers, some MDF or plywood, crossover components, measurements, patience and a good design.

I also like the fact that DIY loudspeaker culture makes it difficult to rely only on brand prestige. Once the cabinet is open and the crossover is lying on the workbench, marketing becomes much less important. The questions become practical. Does the driver perform properly? Is the crossover doing its job? Is the cabinet well designed? Does the finished loudspeaker reproduce music convincingly? That is a wonderfully direct way of looking at hi-fi.

After almost forty years, KLANG+TON is therefore more than a German loudspeaker DIY magazine. It is an archive of loudspeaker design, a practical school for generations of builders and a reminder of an important principle in audio: understanding how something works can deepen the pleasure of listening to it. In an industry increasingly dominated by sealed products, software and upgrade cycles, I value KLANG+TON because it keeps the door to the workshop open. It shows that high-quality music reproduction can still involve learning, experimenting and building something yourself.

HiFi’ve, Ronald – Your EarFluencer