Pro Audio Center was founded in 1989 by the Ham family of Richland and Florence, MS. But the company legacy started in 1984 when Jimmy Ham began building competition car audio systems in his parents’ garage. By 1985, Jimmy was very active on the car audio competition scene, and his sister Vickie Ham soon followed him. Over the next few years, the two of them racked up numerous wins, both local and national. And from the beginning, it was always a family affair with the support of their parents Buddy and Carolyn Ham.

While at a car audio competition in 1988, having just had his car judged for sound quality, Jimmy Ham was offered a job by the owner of a very prominent car audio rep firm based in Atlanta. Jimmy accepted the job and spent the next year traveling all over the Southeastern United States as a car audio product trainer and sales rep. This led to a big insight into how the car audio industry operates. And it stirred a desire for the Ham family to open their own store.

After thoughtful consideration, the Ham family did establish Pro Audio Center in September of 1989 at their current location in Richland, MS. Jimmy brought a huge amount of car audio passion, creativity, technical skills, and industry knowledge to the business. While Vickie’s car audio competition experience, love of music and car audio, IT work experience, and business degree enabled her to put the store on the path to success and keep it there. Buddy rounded out the founding team with his lifelong passion for everything automotive. And having already owned and operated several small businesses, his management skill’s and connections were very instrumental to their early success.

Over the years that followed, Pro Audio Center quickly grew to be a major mobile electronics dealer in central Mississippi with a team of talented people led by the Ham family. As the business continued to grow, Jimmy (with his wife Amy Ham) and Vickie spent countless weekends on the car audio competition circuits with a team of friends, winning awards and setting records including World SPL Records and many Best of Show Installation and Sound Quality awards. Along the way, Jimmy partnered with other key members of the industry to form USAC (United States Autosound Competition [now known as USACi]). And Pro Audio Center went on to host and organize some of the largest car audio competitions ever, right in their backyard in Jackson, MS.

As the decades continued on, Pro Audio Center built many wonderful relationships in the community and in the industry, while continually expanding their local customer base and creating many award winning audio systems. They have also been fortunate to add some very talented people to the team along the way, including long-time shop manager Dexter Holeman. More recently, Jimmy’s son (Payton Ham) and daughter (Lauren Ham) have joined the Pro Audio Center team after having literally “grown up” in the business. And they are now contributing immensely to the continued success of the business as part of a talented team that includes three active generations of the Ham family.

From humble roots with not much more than a few tools in a garage, and an extreme passion for car audio and mobile electronics, Pro Audio Center has grown to be nationally recognized and highly awarded numerous times. And at the center of it all are strong family values and a talented team with a desire to contribute to the community they call home. That’s why Pro Audio Center is most proud to be recognized as Mississippi’s Most Recommended Mobile Electronic Specialists. Because nothing matters to them more than pleasing customers and sharing their love of car audio!