Q: Who designed what products?

A: Bob Carver designed the original 700, 400, 700B, 4000 (with Bill Skinner), and Andromeda III speakers (later renamed Phase III). Bob was working on the Dual 500 (later renamed D-500) and improvements to the Autocorrelator noise reduction circuit when he left the company in 1977. His initial design work was completed by other engineers and became Series II products.

Q: What about the other Series I products?

A: The 1000, 2000, and 5000 Tuner were designed by A.P. Van Meter who joined Phase Linear in 1974 after working for Macintosh and University Sound. When Bob Carver left in 1977, A.P. became Chief Design Engineer and Engineering Manager and was involved in most products from that point on.

Q: What years were each series manufactured?

A: Series I products were built from 1970-77, Series II from 1978-early 82, Professional Series from 1980-83, and Series III from 1982-83. Lynnwood production ceased in December, 1982. However, Jensen continued to manufacture some products through 1983 in addition to the 9500 CD player and 8000A turntable which were built in Japan.

Q: What amplifiers had fully complimentary (NPN and PNP) output stages?

A: The 200 Series II was the first fully comp. amplifier. The 300 II was also fully comp. In 1980 the 400 II (#31658 onward) and 700 II (#10701 onward) were redesigned with fully comp. output stages. The D-500 never had a fully comp. output stage. All Professional Series amps and DRS Series amps had fully complimentary output stages.

Q. What products had dual primary (120/240 volt) transformers?

A. All Series II (with the exception of the Pioneer built 5100, 7000, and 8000), all DRS Series and all Profess ional Series products. Series I products got dual primary transformers around 1977. I don't have exact serial numbers so the best way to tell is look at the transformer color coding and see if it matches the 120/240 volt wiring diagram.

Q: What products were designed and built by Pioneer?

A: Pioneer bought Phase Linear in 1979. Contrary to some beliefs, Pioneer did not cheapen the Phase Linear product line at all. Pioneer had many very high-end products not marketed by Pioneer in the U.S. which complimented the Phase Linear product line. These were the 5100II Tuner, 7000II Microscan Cassette Deck, and 8000II Turntable (based on the TX D-1000 Tuner, CT-A1 Cassette Deck, and PL-L1000 Turntable). See the photo gallery for the equivalent Pioneer models. The P510, 530, 560 and 580 speakers were high end speakers which included such innovations as beryllium and titanium dome drivers. The P560 and 580 speakers used the Pioneer PT-R7Y ribbon tweeter with extended frequency response to 120 kHz!

All U.S. products continued to be designed and built in Lynnwood without interference from Pioneer.

The last Pioneer built products were the T5200 Tuner (supplied as a mother board subassembly from the F-9 Tuner) and 8000A Turntable (PL-L1000A).

Because of my familiarity with the above Pioneer products, I can offer expert repairs on the TX D-1000, CT-A1 and PL-L1000/1000A. Unfortunately, there is zero parts availability for the CT-A1/7000 cassette deck (see Buyer Beware) but Ed and I do have a limited supply of parts for the tuners and turntables (including the last carbon fiber tone arms in existence).

Q: Who designed and built the 9500 CD Player?

A: The 9500 was designed and built in Japan by Kyocera and was based on Model DA-01 with cosmetic and electronic changes designed by Phase Linear engineers. An interesting side note is the 9500 was the first U.S. brand CD player to appear on the market in mid-1983.

Q: Were "Linear Phase" speakers in any way connected to Phase Linear?

A: NO! This was a large scale deception. Sales were typically conducted from the back of vans with no receipt, no tax, and no guarantee! These speakers were NOT built by Phase Linear. BEWARE!