History of Blues Loudspeakers?

[Kanaworm$ 292]

How about a little history lesson on Blues?

How did they start? Who was involved? What happened to the line when SoundQuest (Way before AAMP/Stinger) bought them out? When they decided to bring the Blues lineup back?

I am very interested as I always liked the brand when I was a kid back in the 90's.

P.S. Let's get Ray on here to spill the beans on Blues and Linear Power.

[Mike Flanagan 0]

Ok OldSkool here goes! Blues Loudspeakers were origanaly formed by Don Mitchell who was one of the original founders of Stillwater Designs(Kicker) in Stillwater OK (The building housing Richmond-Hill Company,parent co of Blues, was located across the street from Kicker at the time which is what caused the confusion that Stillwater Designs also owned Blues). Don parted ways with Kicker because he wanted a better sound quality speaker and felt kicker was moving away from that goal. Later Jerry Hubbard (Altec Lansing) and Chris Underwood (Stillwater Designs) joined him to build a high quality no frills speaker to compete in the market place of (at the time) high dollar speakers. Ray Rayfield (Stillwater Designs Linear Power Blues) also left Kicker and brought his knowledge of car audio competition and enginering of speakers and amps (designed the original stitched Kicker Subs and Seperates and worked one on one with Jerry M and Ruth Werbac at Linear Power) to the table. They were in business from 1989 till 1995ish when Soundquest bought the rights to Blues.

Now Blues/Linear Power is one company(presently in Mississippi) owned by Ray Rayfield. In keeping with the original idea behind the Blues name (more with less) Ray (with help from countless friends) has developed a speaker that hits incredible lows and reproduces unbelievable vocal mids from the same speaker. This lets the consumer get what the high priced speakers (and you know who you are!) produce tonaly with 3 drivers out of two. Just ask anyone who has heard them. No they are not made of unobtaineum metals and have multiple stacks of neodimium magnets but who needs that when they sound as good as they do. Plus they are made in America. Nuff Said!

Thats it in a nutshell! Im sure i left out a few details but you get the idea!

[Kanaworm$ 292]

Ok OldSkool here goes! Blues Loudspeakers were origanaly formed by Don Mitchell who was one of the original founders of Stillwater Designs(Kicker) in Stillwater OK (The building housing Richmond-Hill Company,parent co of Blues, was located across the street from Kicker at the time which is what caused the confusion that Stillwater Designs also owned Blues). Don parted ways with Kicker because he wanted a better sound quality speaker and felt kicker was moving away from that goal. Later Jerry Hubbard (Altec Lansing) and Chris Underwood (Stillwater Designs) joined him to build a high quality no frills speaker to compete in the market place of (at the time) high dollar speakers. Ray Rayfield (Stillwater Designs Linear Power Blues) also left Kicker and brought his knowledge of car audio competition and enginering of speakers and amps (designed the original stitched Kicker Subs and Seperates and worked one on one with Jerry M and Ruth Werbac at Linear Power) to the table. They were in business from 1989 till 1995ish when Soundquest bought the rights to Blues.

Now Blues/Linear Power is one company(presently in Mississippi) owned by Ray Rayfield. In keeping with the original idea behind the Blues name (more with less) Ray (with help from countless friends) has developed a speaker that hits incredible lows and reproduces unbelievable vocal mids from the same speaker. This lets the consumer get what the high priced speakers (and you know who you are!) produce tonaly with 3 drivers out of two. Just ask anyone who has heard them. No they are not made of unobtaineum metals and have multiple stacks of neodimium magnets but who needs that when they sound as good as they do. Plus they are made in America. Nuff Said!

Thats it in a nutshell! Im sure i left out a few details but you get the idea!

Thank You sir! It's always nice to see a quality speaker and amplifier to come back from the brink bigger and better than ever.

I will definately hang on to my pair of original Blues 6.5" mid/midbass'. Still brand new!

[Sir-Lancelot 216]

Fuck me, I got to hear these damn drivers!

"This lets the consumer get what the high priced speakers (and you know who you are!) produce tonaly with 3 drivers out of two"

[Mike Flanagan 0]

Your welcome sorry about the spelling. Just to wet your taste buds we are currently building five more sq vehicles. Jimmy Walkers HHR, my wifes 95 Honda prelude, Herman Smiths 05 Dodge fullsize and( since you like history) Rays 93 Ford Lightning and a surprise. Ill give you two hints: One: ITS NOT THE BREADTRUCK(sorry i know bummer) but it is a Ford Two: Its white, LOUD, and takes 3 people to see it(one to say here it comes, one to say here it is, and one to say there it goes!)

And Ray says to tell you he would respond but hes neck deep in amps right now

[Kanaworm$ 292]

Your welcome sorry about the spelling. Just to wet your taste buds we are currently building five more sq vehicles. Jimmy Walkers HHR, my wifes 95 Honda prelude, Herman Smiths 05 Dodge fullsize and( since you like history) Rays 93 Ford Lightning and a surprise. Ill give you two hints: One: ITS NOT THE BREADTRUCK(sorry i know bummer) but it is a Ford Two: Its white, LOUD, and takes 3 people to see it(one to say here it comes, one to say here it is, and one to say there it goes!)

And Ray says to tell you he would respond but hes neck deep in amps right now

Cool! We'll expect pics of all vehicles! Were pic whores on this site!

Ray needs to get his products a great forum home here at SSA!

[6APPEAL 7]

Your welcome sorry about the spelling. Just to wet your taste buds we are currently building five more sq vehicles. Jimmy Walkers HHR, my wifes 95 Honda prelude, Herman Smiths 05 Dodge fullsize and( since you like history) Rays 93 Ford Lightning and a surprise. Ill give you two hints: One: ITS NOT THE BREADTRUCK(sorry i know bummer) but it is a Ford Two: Its white, LOUD, and takes 3 people to see it(one to say here it comes, one to say here it is, and one to say there it goes!)

And Ray says to tell you he would respond but hes neck deep in amps right now

Mike, How did I get left out?????? x2, big azz black truck, and a black go fast car. We gotta get some time in to get mine together.

[Mike Flanagan 0]

Your welcome sorry about the spelling. Just to wet your taste buds we are currently building five more sq vehicles. Jimmy Walkers HHR, my wifes 95 Honda prelude, Herman Smiths 05 Dodge fullsize and( since you like history) Rays 93 Ford Lightning and a surprise. Ill give you two hints: One: ITS NOT THE BREADTRUCK(sorry i know bummer) but it is a Ford Two: Its white, LOUD, and takes 3 people to see it(one to say here it comes, one to say here it is, and one to say there it goes!)

And Ray says to tell you he would respond but hes neck deep in amps right now

Mike, How did I get left out?????? x2, big azz black truck, and a black go fast car. We gotta get some time in to get mine together.

OOOOOOOPPPPPPSSSSSS!!! sorry well say your the secret weapon!!! Especially if we can talk you into using that double triso in the gn!

[Randal Johnson 544]

Mike, where is all this work taking place ?? I need to get my bed/enclosure/batrack detailed ...

Plus, if you don't mind I need your help covering my kicks(when you get time).

[The Tube Doctor 0]

So does this mean that we can expect a rebirth of Linear Power?

Older models revisited, or some new and exciting stuff?

I've used (and loved) their amps since the early 1980's.

Built dozens of demo and comp cars with the IQ series in the early 1990's,

(lots of active systems, mulitple 5002 for subs, etc)

and even managed to bring a limited quantity of product over to my new

locale (Hong Kong) up to about 1995.

Where do I sign up?

Still have a 4753iQ, waiting for repair...............

[Impious 1,476]

IIRC There's been rumblings about Ray's plans to bring back Linear Power for quite a while.

[sq_mgb 21]

Linear Power amps are roughly a year away from what I am told by Ray. He and Jeri M. are working on new designs as well as new cosmetics on the heatsinks. They will follow the same design philosophies as before, clean power, no frills, and should be better than ever. I don't know if they will bring the same amps (HV or DPS) back or not, but I'll try to find out.

Right now the concentration for him is to get Blues speakers up and running first with Linear Power to follow later. Mike (Flanagan) could say better than I on timelines and what will actually make it to market. I for one can't wait to see what they have in the works.

[Randal Johnson 544]

how'd you do this weekend SQ_MGB ?? call me when you can ...

[Kanaworm$ 292]

Ray has to keep the Plum Crazy color! That was classic LP back in the 90's.

TO3 outputs in the plan or is that to $$$?

[sq_mgb 21]

OldSkool_08,

I'm not sure about the TO-3's. I remember him talking to someone (I assume Jeri M) about them, and there was a LOT of discussion about TO-3 = Linear Power, and anything else doesn't, but I don't know what the final decision was. I know they were talking about the "thermal footprint" or something like that and it was about the same time they were discussing the shape of the heatsink. I do know this....whatever parts they decide to use, they will have the same reliability as before and will also still be MADE IN THE USA.

As far as colors go, Ray has a guy who's doing powder coating for him and the guy does a fantastic job. As I type this, I have two heatsinks sent to him being refinished after I saw what he could do with them. I will pass along the TO-3 question to Ray and I'll also see what he says about the plum crazy color selection. The best thing I can say right now if you want to know more is to keep checking the websites for Linear Power and Blues, as he will update the site periodically. I know he's busy as heck right now trying to get the speaker line back up and running and we are doing everything we can to support him in that. After that is established, the amps are coming, and as I stated above, that's about a year away.

If you want to know anything else, just PM me and I'll pass it straight to Ray, or you can email him directly. I'm waiting like everyone else to see what happens though!

[Mike Flanagan 0]

TO3's will be back! The amps being worked on as of right now are 3 two channels, a 6 channel, and a 5.1 full surround amp (the last two firsts for Linear) The power ratings for these amps at last discussion were 2x50,2x75, and 2x150. The DPS style heat sinks(or Wheel Chock Amps as some of us lovingly called them) are no more(too many complaints of "we cant get those under the seat!"). The new heat sinks resemles that of the 4753 (a low profile, wider version of the 1502). The bigger amps will come later. The 5.1 and six channel amps will be rated at 100x4 plus 150x2 at last count. Protos of these amps will be ready for approval within the next 3 months(fingers crossed).

The plans are for the TO3 devices to be the Plastic Case style(very little difference in these and the old metal case, and way more cost effective) in these amps. The new design makes gobs of power in a very small space(basicly 100-200 watts in a 2x2 inch area inside the heat sink). Ray will probably correct me when he gets up and reads this, but for now this will work. These amps are about 12 months out and will be MADE IN AMERICA!

Hey Tube Doctor if you need that 4753iq repaired PM me and ill get youTIPS number and we will get that taken care of.

And for all of you lookin for the BIG Linear power amps, OH MY GOD will you be happy when those come off the drawing board. I dont want to give anything away but i can promise you wont be disappointed.

[Mike Flanagan 0]

RAY WOKE UP! Here is an amendment to the earlier post:

The 2 channel amps power rating will be as follows: 75x2,100x2, and 250x2. The 250x2 will be capable of 1000 watts bridged. All amps rated at rms and have a thd of less than .0004%. All amps have AB circuitry and are built for the purist of sound quality enthusiast.

The 5.1 amp will be 75x5 and 250x1. All power ratings at less than .0004%THD.

The output devices in these amps will be TO3P's, the plastic case version of the metal case TO3. The reason for using these is, as i said before, the cost effectiveness and also to be able to use the smaller case. There is only a 25 watt difference in the two devices but are sonicly identical. This means we can get all the power that Linear is known for with the sound quality and clarity that made them famous in a small package(like i said the 250x2 in a case a little longer than a 1502 with the the width of a 4753).

The engineer on these amps, Jeri Mccord, is the original engineer for Linear Power and the man behind the new Linear amps. He left a major amp manufacturer about 6 months ago and has ,with Ray, been working up a whole new generation of LP amps. Without mentioning any names, he was recently noted for his work in developing one of, if not the most powerfull car audio amplifiers in the world!

All of the new product will have that distinct Linear Power look(the square designs with the heat seeking fins completely covering the suface of the amps for optimum cooling).

[jcarter1885 995]

Definitely sounds like some new Linear Power Amps could be used in my application in the future, thanks for the update fellas. I seen a Linear Power Amp at the pawn shop the other day, the sexy purple color (if I didnt want some new ones I would of picked that up).

[6APPEAL 7]

Ray was telling with Rich, Jimmy and I that we needed to sell off our stashes of old school LP. Not just yet.

[2combs 0]

OldSkool_08,

I'm not sure about the TO-3's. I remember him talking to someone (I assume Jeri M) about them, and there was a LOT of discussion about TO-3 = Linear Power, and anything else doesn't, but I don't know what the final decision was. I know they were talking about the "thermal footprint" or something like that and it was about the same time they were discussing the shape of the heatsink. I do know this....whatever parts they decide to use, they will have the same reliability as before and will also still be MADE IN THE USA.

As far as colors go, Ray has a guy who's doing powder coating for him and the guy does a fantastic job. As I type this, I have two heatsinks sent to him being refinished after I saw what he could do with them. I will pass along the TO-3 question to Ray and I'll also see what he says about the plum crazy color selection. The best thing I can say right now if you want to know more is to keep checking the websites for Linear Power and Blues, as he will update the site periodically. I know he's busy as heck right now trying to get the speaker line back up and running and we are doing everything we can to support him in that. After that is established, the amps are coming, and as I stated above, that's about a year away.

If you want to know anything else, just PM me and I'll pass it straight to Ray, or you can email him directly. I'm waiting like everyone else to see what happens though!

Hello, I'm the guy that does the powder coating on the heatsinks. I'm 25 and I've been using Linear Power since I was about 14 so it's been cool to have my hands on so many pieces of history. I'm very excited about the return of Blues and Linear Power. I listened to the 6.5" 2-way Blues components today when I took some heat sinks to Ray and I was blown away. They sound great. I'm gonna get a set to put in my Lightning for sure. I believe he said the 6.5" 2-way sets are ready to ship out now with the 8" set to follow in the next week or so.

[6APPEAL 7]

Hello, I'm the guy that does the powder coating on the heatsinks. I'm 25 and I've been using Linear Power since I was about 14 so it's been cool to have my hands on so many pieces of history. I'm very excited about the return of Blues and Linear Power. I listened to the 6.5" 2-way Blues components today when I took some heat sinks to Ray and I was blown away. They sound great. I'm gonna get a set to put in my Lightning for sure. I believe he said the 6.5" 2-way sets are ready to ship out now with the 8" set to follow in the next week or so.

I've seen your work, nice job on all the amps I've seen redone. Keep up the good work.

Got my new 6.5's installed over the weekend (been waiting a loooonnngggg time), replacing my old Blues 6.5's. Can't listen to them yet since I also took my A-pillars out to be glassed for the tweeter mounts. Waiting on big red to get them finished.

[reaper68 0]

I see there is an msrp listed what can we expect for street price

[Randal Johnson 544]

Keep Checking the site !!! Updates on the way ASAP !!!

[Tirefryr 1,742]

If T03s=LP, then so do anodized sinks. Don't get me wrong, it's nearly impossible to beat powder coating for it's effectiveness, durability and cost, but the anodizing is classic, does virtually nothing in terms of thermal efficiency where as any other coating will affect it negatively, and continues the tradition if that's what you're going for.