L. PAUL HALES
President / Product Designer

Hales graduated from the University of California, Davis in 1988 where he specialized in vibrations material science and earned his degree in Mechanical Engineering. At 22 years old, for his senior project Hales designed what would become his first commercial loudspeaker product of many, the Hales System Two.

Less than a year after graduating, Hales formed and started his own company – Hales Design Group – where his loudspeaker designs, the Hales System Two, the subsequent Signature, Revelation and Transcendence series models would go on to garner praise from the audiophile community and be officially recommended by Stereophile Magazine in their annual ‘Recommended Components’ listing.

As word of Hales’ loudspeaker designs continued to grow, Hales was hired as a designer consultant for high-end loudspeakers by Samsung in 1995 and two years later, went on to consult BMW on automotive loudspeaker systems.

At the start of the new millennium, Hales joined QSC Audio, the leading manufacturer of professional audio power amplifiers where he established their Research and Development department for loudspeakers and served as Director of R&D. In this role, Hales continued to explore his passion for loudspeakers, especially for professional applications and he patented both a loudspeaker mounting system and design aesthetic for QSC Audio. Hales lead the development of a new corporate logo and loudspeaker industrial design language for QSC Audio, which are still in use to this day.

In 2004, Hales departed QSC Audio to found Professional Home Cinema, LLC and develop professional-style loudspeakers for residential installed systems. Professional Home Cinema loudspeakers and DSP amplifier/processors quickly became the system of choice by many A-list movies stars, producers, directors and studio executives, for their personal residential screening rooms. In 2010, the company adopted the name  Pro Audio Technology (‘PRO’) to better suit the company’s long-term strategic objectives.

Since the creation of Pro Audio Technology where Paul is owner and acting President, both BMW (BMW DesignWorks, USA) and Samsung Electronics have called upon Hales a second time for consultation on several projects including industrial design management, television loudspeaker systems and DSP products. Most recently, Hales consulted for Dolby Laboratories, the industry leader in surround sound for commercial and residential cinema environments, on the subjects of acoustics and loudspeaker design.

Stemming from his passion for speaker design and love of anything related to audio, Hales enjoys music, movies, and playing the drums. Never a dull moment, Hales stays busy with travel, photography, automobiles, cooking and just about any kind of physical activity. Hales also believes there isn’t a problem in the world that the right glass of wine can’t fix, and he is more than capable of picking the wine.