We took a bit of time out to visit the country and check out one of the areas most respected PA production companies, but this is more a story of a family rather than a company.

PAS (Professional Audio Services) was founded back in the late 1970's by Tony Boon who at the turn of the century, was joined by his son Adam.

The Gear
Both Tony and Adam are equipment junkies. They believe that good quality gear is one of the secrets to their success. So it is without surprise that we found all sorts of boxes containing plenty of wonderful sound gear in their warehouses.

Tony has a long history as an audio guy. Adam is young, new and fresh. He has most of the computer and lighting skills. Being an event production company, PAS have an excellent range of lighting. Aside from a huge range of standard lights, PAS have a large stock of expensive high quality computer driven lights. Right up Adam's alley.

Backup Service
A lot of companies talk about this one a lot. The activity that happens after the cash has passed hands, loosely described as backup service.

A section of the spare parts department, may look a little cluttered but it's all in there.

Being so far away from the main cities makes it important that PAS have a good service section. For themselves as well as their customers. Clients cannot always afford to wait a few days (possibly weeks) to send something back for repair. The PAS service department ensures quick turn around and happy clients.

The speaker reconeing department (glue sniffers paradise).

The Studio
The adjunct to an already successful operation, the studio was started because of a demand from customers who wanted a recording of their event. As the recordings became better and more refined, PAS found they had another much requested item on their hands. The studio was initially created as a post production facility but popular demand saw an extra couple of rooms tacked on for sound booths and voice over. It has since become a very creative space that has produced many wonderful projects.

Studio control room and edit suite.

There are not many major city studios that are any better equipped than this one, proving as always, that a hand full of money will normally help any situation.

Quality Pre-amps and DI's ensure plenty of good inputs.

The studio has more different forms of recording than you can poke a stick at. Mostly because a lot of work comes from people doing live recordings on a multitude of formats. Although the recorded material often comes in, from customers, on tape, editing is mostly done on a high spec'd Mac.

Sony 24 track (remember, they took over MCI).

Adam loves the studio and not surprisingly, he is very good with it. He has a pair of excellent ears because all the work, of his, we heard on CD, was first class. Local acts are well served with this facility.

Summary
The company is today one of the most respected production companies in the country area between Sydney and Melbourne. They are without doubt the largest and most professional North East Victoria and Southern Riverina country outfit specializing in major events.

You can have all the technical equipment you want, it still comes back to finding a company that has strong local knowledge and a healthy "can do" savvy. Professional Audio Services are definitely the people on the (NSW/VIC boarder) that have all this. They are a great company to deal with, if you want your event to run smoothly, without fuss, at a price you can afford.

And what about Kurash? That's a question for Adam or Tony and not something we want to be forced to get into.

• Professional Audio Systems at the 2006 Mt Beauty Music Muster