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Blaze Audio Expanding Into Loudspeaker Development

Greensboro, NC-based company noted for professional power amplifiers launches a new loudspeaker division headed by veteran designer Hugh Sarvis.
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Left to right: Eric Welch, Hugh Sarvis and Norvin Roessing of the new Blaze Audio loudspeaker division.

Blaze Audio, which offers power amplifiers such as the PowerZone Connect series and affiliated components, has announced new development initiatives that will result in the addition of loudspeaker products for a wide range of sound reinforcement applications in an effort headed by noted loudspeaker designer Hugh Sarvis.

Sarvis’ experience dates back to the 1970s when he provided sound services to artists such as Wynonna Judd, the band Alabama, and Waylon Jennings. Next he consolidated his experience to focus on loudspeaker design, with the first product — the Max Series — appearing in 1986 under the Woodworx name. For the next several years, these loudspeaker designs assumed roles in large-scale events, including several Super Bowls and the Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

In 2001, Sarvis officially debuted WorxAudio Technologies, which was recognized for its V8 line array, the UltraMax Series, along with the X-Series line array system that employed a groundbreaking 160-degree horizontal dispersion pattern. As the founder/CEO of WorxAudio Technologies, he also expanded the company’s presence by developing products for the commercial installation market.

In 2014, WorxAudio was acquired by PreSonus Audio Electronics, where as managing director of the company’s loudspeaker division, Sarvis designed an assortment of studio monitors, the ULT series, the Air series and the CDL series.

“Loudspeakers and amplifiers go hand in hand,” he explains. “We currently offer rack mount amplifier and control solutions and, in the coming months, passive and self-powered loudspeaker options will be available. All our amplifier offerings offer high-end DSP featuring FIR (Finite Impulse Response) filters along with an assortment of IIR (Infinite Impulse Response) and other filter sets. We also plan to offer updates to our DSP on a regular basis.”

Sarvis also noted the design facilities Blaze Audio has provided: “I am fortunate to have a complete Klippel system for loudspeaker measuring, diagnostics, and control in our laboratory. We have a laser to analyze both loudspeakers and transducer components. Equally notable, our NFS (Near Field Scanner) has been an amazing tool for analyzing a complete loudspeaker system’s directivity and frequency response over 360 degrees. I can extrapolate data anechoically over any distance. This has been an invaluable design tool. We also have a 3D printer, along with a CNC router for complete product prototyping. This is a state-of-the-art design facility and I have every intention of developing innovative loudspeaker solutions.”

TBlaze Audio loudspeaker development team also includes Norvin Roessing to oversee mechanical design and Eric Welch serving as the loudspeaker division’s product manager. “In addition to the skills and experience both Norvin and Eric bring. I was very fortunate to have worked with Don Keele, one of the developers of constant directivity horn design,” Sarvis adds. “Together, we developed constant beamwidth devices by amplitude shading using the CBT technologies from the U.S. Navy papers. Together, this team has a wealth of experience in loudspeaker development, and I look forward to leveraging this talent to develop the next generation of products.

“Product development can frequently take a substantial amount of time. In this regard, Blaze Audio has yet another advantage,” he concludes. “We recently purchased the intellectual property of WorxAudio from Fender Musical Instruments Corporation—the owner of PreSonus—and plan to continue building some of those key products. I’ve worked on wide pattern control for many years and several WorxAudio products have this feature set so, going forward, we plan to continue with this design concept. That gives us a leg up on what would otherwise be a long development. In summary, we have a lot to look forward to and I firmly believe our customers will be the ultimate winners — so stay tuned!”

Blaze Audio

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