Spartan Audio Visual: An AV Story of Sound, Light and Vision Installed and Built With Hard Work Over Time
Part I: Sound Beginnings
The journey begins humbly in the Rhondda Valley, where founder Dave Morgan, then a teenager, launched a small live music PA hire business in Porth, near Pontypridd in the Rhondda Valley. From a shared lockup that housed his father’s and brother-in-law’s construction and installation tools. Without resources for a dedicated vehicle, Dave’s early business relied on the family builders work vans and their seemingly endless patience. Taking advantage of evenings when the tradesmen didn’t need them to deliver sound and lighting systems, Dave recruited a surprisingly eager Sean Hales to drive around South Wales with event equipment. Together the young sound engineers made things louder, brighter and people, DJ’s and bands more happy.
Spartan Audio as it was monikered then started as a thoroughly grassroots music operation, with Dave hustling and supporting local bands, DJ’s and community events in the valleys outside of Cardiff’s burgeoning live music scenes. Driven by a love for live sound, in particular speakers and audio mixing plus a determination to bring quality audio experiences to the event community that supported it, the small audio visual business grew with no outside financial investment.
Part II: A Local AV Company
The sound system rental business had organically exploded from a hobby come side hustle come testing ground in to something with a full order book and clients relying on it. Dave made the decision to step up operations and drive the success in to something more ‘real’ and negotiated a home for the business in the old Avanti stores at the Pop Factory in Porth, a well-known local venue and former Television studio, where Dave had also previously worked as a sound technician and camera assistant in broadcast audio.
Here, (mostly)free from plaster dust, Spartan AV was born, expanding to a full time four-person team of sound technicians, AV specialists and engineers. Gradually moving beyond just live music to corporate events and presentations, adapting and refining its technical offerings in response to new event clients needs. In time the team recognised the importance of proximity to its corporate clients and needing a space of their own, prompting a strategic relocation to Cardiff, which also marked Spartan’s first foray into AV Sales and installations.
Part III: Professional AV Installation Services
Shortly after moving to Cardiff the still young AV company branched out again, marking its first sound system installation at the then ubiquitous ‘Buffalo Bar’ in Cardiff. This pivotal move allowed Spartan Audio Visual to tap into more AV equipment services opportunities, shifting from concert audio and festival setups to outfitting professional venues of all kinds. Laying the foundation for the evolution into a trusted AV solutions provider as Spartan Audio Visual is today. Spartan AV as a concept and brand as well as a team would continue to learn, grow and challenge itself. Something the company will always share with the field of audio visual technology itself is that it doesn’t stay still for long.
Now, a decade in Cardiff, South Wales, Spartan Audio Visual has established itself as a leading regional AV installation company, supplying highly technical AV equipment services as far afield as Glasgow and London from it’s base in the South Wales Capital. With a skilled and dedicated team of six full-time employees backed by a reliable network of freelance AV friends and technical specialists. Spartan Audio Visual continues to serve a diverse range of clients, from local hotels to corporate event organisers and beyond, Spartan’s reputation is built on a deep-rooted commitment to quality in AV systems and long-term relationships—many of its early AV clients remain on the roster today. From structured cabling to advanced Audio Visual equipment installations for hybrid events, Spartan AV continues to expand, bringing sophisticated temporary and permanent solutions to meet the ever-evolving needs of the modern business landscape.
Whilst, all the while, keeping one eye on the grassroots, for fear of wandering too far from the ideals that it was born from.
The Spartan AV Mantra:
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