About BMC Audio Visual

The Beginning 

It didn’t start with equipment.

It started with music and curiosity.   

Allan's journey began as a teenager — playing acoustic guitar and bass in local bands and church environments. Those years weren’t just about performance—they were about exposure to real instruments, real spaces, and real sound.

It was in those moments that something began to take hold. Not just an appreciation for music, but a sensitivity to how it behaved. Why certain spaces felt immersive, why others felt disconnected. Why some systems carried emotion, and others felt hollow.

That curiosity never really left. Even today!

While training as an electrician, that curiosity evolved into a deeper understanding of electronics, music technology, and sound production. It became clear that this was more than an interest—it was a direction.

Live Sound — Learning Without a Safety Net  

That early interest evolved into live sound engineering, where Allan spent close to a decade working front-of-house for concerts and live performances.

Working front-of-house for concerts brought a different kind of understanding. There were no second chances, no opportunity to go back and adjust things later. Everything happened in the moment, in front of an audience, and you had to get good at trusting your judgement.

Over time, this builds something you can’t really teach—a feel for what sound should be like when it’s live, unprocessed, and working properly. It becomes instinctive. You stop thinking about it, and just know when it’s right.

1991 — A Studio, Built by Hand

In 1991, Allan founded Baker Street Recordings at 2 Florence Street, Burwood.

There was no blueprint to follow.

In the early 90s, studio acoustics and soundproofing weren’t packaged solutions — there were no off-the-shelf products, no online guides. Everything had to be learned, tested, and built from first principles of physics.

Drawing on years of hands-on experience in woodworking and construction, Allan and his team built the studio from scratch — literally brick by brick. The painstaking process involved studying acoustic treatment and sound containment theory, experimenting with different materials and 3D room design. Further testing, refining and rebuilding when needed. 

The result was a state-of-the-art music recording and mastering studio featuring - large recording spaces for bands, dedicated mastering control rooms, 32 channel analog consoles, 16 track reel-to-reel tape recorder and later 24 track digital recording systems. 

Baker Street Recordings revolved around one idea — capturing acoustic instruments to its truest essence.

No shortcuts. No artificial enhancement.

Over time, the studio developed a quiet reputation. A number of highly regarded Australian jazz and classical musicians spent time there, drawn to an environment that respected the subtleties of performance and allowed the music to speak for itself.

Beyond One Studio

What began with a single studio became an ongoing process.

Over the years, Baker Street Recordings was involved in building and refining multiple recording spaces, each one offering new challenges and new understanding. Different rooms, different constraints, different outcomes—but always the same focus on how sound behaves within a space.

That experience built a level of confidence that only comes from doing the work repeatedly. Not just knowing what should work, but understanding why it does.

A Rare Perspective - Analog to Digital

These years unfolded during a period of transition.

Experiencing the golden era of analogue recording, where every detail mattered — signal path, tape quality, gain structure — and then witnessed the industry transition into the digital domain.  Very few practitioners have lived through both worlds at that level.

It created a reference point—something steady that remained consistent, regardless of how technology changed.

Later Baker Street Recordings was renamed Burwood Music Centre.

BMC Hi-Fi Begins - Questioning the Norm

Burwood Music Centre moved deeper into the Hi-Fi world, something became immediately clear. There was a disconnect.  Many systems were built around trends, marketing claims, unverified "upgrades" and no interest in improving the room's acoustics for better sound. 

Coming from Studio world, this felt a bit insane.  People were chasing better sound…without knowing what “better” actually meant.

That frustration led to the creation of BMC Hi-Fi — focused on building systems that prioritised accuracy, balance, and musical truth.

Listening rooms were designed and setup properly with appropriate acoustic treatment.

Systems were assembled with intention.

And most importantly, decisions were grounded in real-world musical experience.

This naturally evolved into something bigger.

From Studio to BMC Audio Visual — A Natural Evolution

The transition into home audio visual design came naturally.

The same principles used in studio environments applied directly to residential spaces. Sound still interacts with the room. Reflections still shape clarity. Placement, materials, and proportions still determine performance.

Over time, this approach expanded into designing  luxury private home cinemas, media rooms, and dedicated Hi-Fi listening spaces—each one informed by decades of experience in sound engineering, design, construction, and acoustics.