RG Jones Sound Engineering was founded in 1926 by Reginald Geoffrey Jones (1912–1987) of
Caerphilly in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
.
The RG Jones company and
Swanson Sound Service
Swanson is a brand of TV dinners, broths, and canned poultry made for the North American and Hong Kong markets. The former "Swanson Company" was founded in Omaha, Nebraska, where it developed improvements of the frozen dinner. The TV dinn ...
are considered the oldest
sound reinforcement
A sound reinforcement system is the combination of microphones, signal processors, amplifiers, and loudspeakers in enclosures all controlled by a mixing console that makes live or pre-recorded sounds louder and may also distribute those sound ...
companies in the world which are still in operation.
RG Jones worked as a salesman for Milton Products in busy street markets where he could not be heard above the crowd. To solve the problem he built a
public address system
A public address system (or PA system) is an electronic system comprising microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and related equipment. It increases the apparent volume (loudness) of a human voice, musical instrument, or other acoustic sound sou ...
which he mounted on top of the caravan (trailer) he conducted business out of. The public address system consisted of a microphone connected to an amplifier which fed two large wooden horns he had constructed. Four 12 V batteries were used to power a rotary 48 V to 230 V converter to provide portable electricity for the system. The Miltoton Products Company then asked him to build fifteen more of these systems which is when he started the R.G. Jones company.
The company is still in business providing sound systems for festivals, concerts, sporting and special events. They also have a large installed sound business providing service to churches, businesses and schools.
References
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Electronics companies of the United Kingdom
Audio engineering
Electronics companies established in 1932
1932 establishments in England
British companies established in 1932
Manufacturing companies established in 1932