About Us

I grew up in the 80s just outside Cleveland — hometown of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which feels fitting. In 1986, my parents brought home a Yamaha system, and it became the centerpiece of the house. I spent hours through high school fine-tuning the R-5 receiver just right for whatever song was playing — cassettes, then CDs, running through a pair of Phase Tech speakers and Polk Monitor bookshelves. That system taught me that great sound isn't just about the gear, it's about getting it dialed in.

After college, I spent the next 20+ years in electronics, supplying DoD prime contractors with ground power systems and helping bring one of the best-sounding tactical intercoms on the battlefield to market. Along the way, that same instinct from my teenage years — take it apart, understand it, make it perform — never left.

Now based in Las Vegas, I've turned that instinct back to where it started: black-panel Yamaha gear from the era I grew up in. Every unit that comes through Black Panel Audio is cleaned, inspected, and serviced by hand — capacitors checked, pots cleaned and lubricated, relays tested, DC offset verified — so it performs the way it did the day it left the factory, if not better.

This isn't nostalgia for its own sake. It's a belief that this gear was built right the first time, and deserves a second life in someone else's living room, tuned in just right, one more time.

My other passion is rally cars — I worked for 5 years for Hoonigan Racing Division as a motorsports tech for Ken Block and Lia Block.

Cheers, Pete