The United States of America was built on road trips, and what’s a road trip without music? Thinking of my own childhood, some of my best memories were listening to The Beach Boys on family road trips up and down the west coast on I-5. As a kid, I remember wondering which of the girls in the song “California Girls” I was and how exactly “the Midwest farmer’s daughter keeps her boyfriend warm at night”. We won’t get into that, but the point is that as soon as the song comes on, I’m taken back to a time and place so quickly I can almost feel the summer sunshine bringing out the freckles on my young face.

Enough of my own history, let’s talk audio history…

Back in the 1940s a guy named Paul W. Klipsch was a tinkering sound engineer and a fan of live music. He made it a personal goal to bring live music into the living room. To say that he achieved his goal is an understatement. His first great loudspeaker was the highly-efficient, hand-built Klipschorn, which is still in production today. Over several years, he secured multiple patents for audio technology and founded Klipsch, the great American speaker company that’s still focused on bringing the live music experience home (or wherever you want to take good music).

Ever since Klipsch’s founding in 1946 we’ve been driven by four acoustic technologies: high-efficiency which means low distortion, controlled directivity, wide dynamic range, and flat frequency response. While we don’t have time to deep dive into these here, I can tell you that Klipsch engineers are constantly considering these principles and building speakers around them. Even our new portable Bluetooth speakers.

Which brings me back to our newest series: The Klipsch Music City Portable Bluetooth Speakers. When it comes to audio, the more highly efficient a speaker is, the less distortion (unwanted sound that’s not in the original recording) it will produce. And let’s be real, nobody likes distortion. For a small speaker, this is very important, because high efficiency means we can have significant acoustic output without the high power found in more bulky speakers. Further, this wireless speaker series is supported by the Klipsch Connect app where you can adjust all the EQ settings, perfectly crafting your ideal audio output. Like more vocals? More or less bass? Klipsch Connect has you covered.

But where would you take the best sounding, most portable speaker on the market? Might I suggest a road trip…to some of the US cities that have made the most significant musical impact in the US. First stop: Austin, Texas.

They say Austin has the most live music venues per capita of anywhere in the US, and anyone who loves live music has probably been to or wants to visit what was nicknamed the live music capital of the world in 1991. If you’re in Austin and not at a show you might be on the lake, visiting hill country or at any number of cultural events. So, in the spirit of the passion and energy at a live show and taking music on the go, we named our most portable handheld speaker the Klipsch Austin. This little guy's got:

• Easy Bluetooth connectivity and 12 hours of battery life
• IP67 rating so you don’t have to worry about dusty areas or a little water
• Textured grip points and a stretchy strap, so it sits nicely in your hand
• Broadcast Mode to connect 10+ Klipsch Music City (or other Broadcast Mode enabled) speakers
• And more: See all the details here

Now heading northeast into the middle of America…where you’ll be immersed in soulful melody and the rich musical heritage of Music City, USA. Welcome to Nashville, Tennessee! Locals claim there’s no better place to experience music, and as the home of honky-tonks and The Country Music Hall of Fame they may be right. Our own nod to Music City, USA includes:

• Dual 2.5” drivers on either side of the speaker for a full 360-degree audio experience
• Easy Bluetooth connectivity and 24-hour battery life to power the day to night
• IP67 rating so you don’t have to worry about dusty areas or a little water
• Klipsch Connect app to dial in your ideal EQ settings
• Broadcast Mode to connect 10+ Klipsch Music City (or other Broadcast Mode enabled) speakers
• And even more: See all the details here

Finally, we’re heading north and east again to round out our American music city road trip: Welcome to the Motor City! Detroit, Michigan is the home of Motown and countless jazz, blues, gospel, rap and techno artists. Common among these varied genres are defiant rhythm and iconic soul. With so much musical soul, it’s no wonder we named the largest and loudest Bluetooth speaker of our series the Klipsch Detroit. This powerful, wireless speaker has:

• Dual 3” drivers, 1” tweeters, and quad force-cancelling passive radiators
• Easy Bluetooth connectivity and 24-hour battery life to power the day to night
• IP67 rating so you don’t have to worry about dusty areas or a little water
• Klipsch Connect app to dial in your ideal EQ settings
• Broadcast Mode for playback on 10+ Klipsch Music City (or other Broadcast Mode enabled) speakers
• Textured grip points and a removable carrying strap
• And a lot more: Get the full rundown here

That rounds out our music city road trip, but it doesn’t have to end yours. With these new mobile speakers, you can take the live music experience to every stop on your tour. So, pick your perfect playlist, grab one of the new speakers and take it on the road.