One of the most frequently asked questions is "why PJ?"

The answer is that the original owner of the business, which started, as PJ Equipments in the late 1940's, was a very forward thinking man called Peter John Oram.

The business operated initially from premises in Onslow Street, where they were the only shop in Guildford selling and hiring out PA Equipment, sound systems specifically for cinemas, Juke Boxes and Hi-fi equipment of a decent quality, so PJ is Guildford's original hi-fi shop.

Names that are still prominent today which were featured then included QUAD and Wharfedale.

With the advent of the major development that became The Friary Centre, in the 1970's, PJ Equipment moved to the present location in Bridge Street.

The business evolved through the 70's and 80's, until 1989 when Richard Taunton took over and changed the name to PJ Hi-fi, thereby retaining the original identity and adapting to the more modern terminology associated with the products being sold.
Many exclusive brands were introduced to the discerning Guildford customers for the first time, including Linn, Meridian, NAD, Rotel, Kef Reference, Mission, B&W, Nakamichi, Thorens, Yamaha, and then later on Rega, Cyrus, Tag McLaren, Denon, Naim.

The addition of an on site Service Department, has proved to be a great success, and reassurance, to the many customers who have experienced problems with older equipment, and of course items covered by the 2 year guarantee offered by PJ Hi-fi.

All of the staff work in the busy shop environment, dealing with customers on a day-to-day basis, helping them to select the right sounding systems to meet their budgets, this is done by demonstration in one of the comfortable listening rooms.

With more and more customers' requirements progressing from purely 2 channel (stereo) towards multi channel audio for both music and film, and multi-room applications, PJ has moved rapidly into these new areas.

PJ Hi-fi has always been keen to ensure that the system or individual components purchased have been installed correctly and of course this is even more important with complicated multi component, multi room and Home Cinema systems.

The full listing of manufacturers stocked currently is as follows;
Hi-fi: Anthony Gallo Acoustics, Arcam (inc. DiVA, FMJ), Audio Technica, B&W, Bryston, Chord Company, Creek, Cyrus, Denon, Epos, Exposure, Genelec, Harman Kardon, Infinity, Iso Tek, JBL, Kef (inc. Reference), Linn (inc. Knekt ), MJ Acoustics, Marantz, Meridian (inc. Digital Theatre), Michell, Mission, Musical Fidelity, NAD, Naim, Ortofon, PMC, Pioneer, Primare, Proac, Project, Pure, QED (inc. Systemline), Quad, Rega, REL, Rotel, Sennheiser, SME, Spendor, TAG McLaren, Wharfedale, Yamaha.

PJ Hi-fi caters for all budgets; a carefully selected comprehensive range of amplifiers - both stereo and multi channel, DVD players, cd players and recorders, tuners - including the superb new DAB format, mini disc recorders, cassette decks and loudspeaker packages are all available for comparison. A good selection of high quality stands - for loudspeakers, televisions and all electronic equipment - is also available to compliment the chosen system and integrate with the environment in your home. These are from Apollo, Ash Design, Atacama, Optimum, Quadraspire, Soundstyle and Stands Unique.

University graduate Elliot Hicks joined the team full time in 1999, after having worked for many years in a part time capacity. He is responsible for designing, planning and implementing all multi-room and Home Cinema installations. Elliot's initial project, was a new demonstration room featuring overhead CRT projection with motorised screen measuring 7ft, a 42inch plasma tv screen, full THX ultra loudspeaker package, and a stunning reference sound system, which was completed in 2000 and has already demonstrated to many customers just how amazing a Home Cinema system can look and sound. The room also has an automated Lutron lighting system and air conditioning for listening comfort. Your imagination is the only limitation and with Elliot's expertise and attention to detail you will be amazed at what can be achieved! An additional no-compromise demonstration suite, which is part of a large extension to the building, is the latest in house project. This will also include the restyling and refurbishment of the existing demonstration and display areas, which will incorporate many of the latest technologies.

Display Devices: Plasma Screens from Loewe, Panasonic, Pioneer, Sony and Yamaha. Televisions and LCD Screens from Loewe. Projectors from Barco (CRT/DLP), SIM2 (DLP) and Yamaha (DLP/LCD). Projection Screens from Stewart, Draper and Vutec.

Video processing: Faroudja, I-Scan, Key Digital, Lumagen, Tag.

Control Systems: AMX, Crestron, Extron and Xantech.

Lighting Control: Crestron, Lutron.

Specialist set up services: ISF Display Calibration, Room Acoustics Analysis.