pac anniversary
Integration Evolution After 40 years, the company that started as the installer’s best friend continues its leadership role as a strong brand of AAMP Global. WORDS BY SOLOMON DANIELS
As an installer practicing in the 90s, Pacific Accessory Corporation was the name you knew for all the "little things" that made electronic integration work. Whether it was a timer, signal converter or turn-on delay, PAC had the solution. Today, installers they don't use the whole name anymore as the brand is now a division of a larger corporation, AAMP Global. It's simply called PAC. But despite the obsolete name, what is not lost is the 40 years of innovation the brand contributed to make the mobile electronics industry what it is today. As the anniversary number implies, PAC was started in 1976 by John Patterson, who saw a market opportunity to
18 Mobile Electronics August 2016
create a better antenna connection for CB radios. The package featured a hideaway antenna and slide mount adapter for the radio. Unfortunately, the window closed quickly as the government changed CB specs just as the units were being manufactured.
Piggyback Ride to Big Boxes The company turned its attention to the burgeoning car stereo installation business, producing noise filters, crossovers, timers and signal adapters for shops across the country. PAC developed strong ties with the specialist installation community, and quickly became known for its customer-focused phone technical
support. Those ties were so strong that a car stereo company gave Patterson the designs for a new high-to low adapter concept that the company developed into some of its most successful products early on: the SNI-1, SNI-8 and SNI-15. And that led to an even bigger benefit. "The connections we made with installers was the key to our success," recalled Patterson. "When many of the large retailers decided to start installing car stereos and passive crossovers, many of the installers they hired wanted our products and service." As a result, Circuit City became one of PAC's biggest resellers, though primarily in crossovers. The growth prompted