Being a radio surveillance technician contributed to his success as an RF technician/frequency coordinator entrusted with wireless operations on high-profile events, as well as his ability to do those jobs without being overly stressed.
“After driving a submarine and being told by the captain to keep the periscope 10 feet below the keel of a Russian destroyer, the Super Bowl doesn’t seem so bad,” he notes. “It certainly helps keep things in perspective during large events.”
While nothing holds a candle to surreptitiously tailgating a Soviet warship, the Super Bowl – with hundreds of transmitters on the field – is an extremely challenging gig. Having done 16 of them, Stoffo would know.
“You’re on the sidelines and have to make a very sensitive receiver work up to 400 feet away,” he says. “You’re susceptible to receive every bit of RF on the field.”
The tensest moment is the national anthem: “The audio has to be perfectly clean because it may be sung a cappella, with nothing to bury an RF hit, and there’s dead silence on the field and in the crowd. Usually, after the national anthem, I relax a bit.”
Moving Forward
After an honorable discharge from the Navy, he immediately went to work for Vega, based in the Las Angeles area and one of the world leaders in pro audio wireless technology at the time. He primarily served as a field engineer, setting up large Vega system applications on Broadway, at Disney World, and for a variety of other events and venues worldwide.
“I got thrown into the deep end,” Stoffo says. “Radio City Music Hall, the Grammys, the Oscars. Fortunately I didn’t have the responsibility I do now, but it was a great introduction to the pro audio industry.”
While at Vega, something clicked that would impact his career long term. “I realized the schematic for Vega transmitters looked like the schematic for my coms on the submarine, but that the wireless had to sound as good as a wired mic because, you know, people like Diana Ross were singing through it.”
Following the riots in LA in 1992, one of which broke out while Stoffo, his wife Eleanor and baby daughter were actually downtown, he decided to move on.
“I knew that Orlando had the largest number of wireless mics in the country, but no repair, wireless sales or rental entities,” he says. “So it seemed that if I was going to start a new business, it was the best bet.”
There he founded PWS, which began as a regional concern run out of his home, with Stoffo serving as his own advisor, engineer, technician and salesman, but rapidly became one of the top wireless providers in the country.
“Eleanor handled the billing and phones, and I went out and worked for clients like Disney World, Universal Studios and Univision in Miami,” he recalls. “But we immediately started getting very busy. Just about every other week somebody at Disney would ask if I repaired wireless mics. I said, ‘I could, but don’t have a repair bench. As soon as I get one I’ll tell you.’
So I cobbled a bench together out of used test equipment, informed the people at Disney, and within two weeks hired my first technician because every day trucks were pulling up at my house dropping off dozens of wireless systems.”
The 1994 World Cup, hosted at several venues in the U.S., proved the biggest impetus to growth, with Stoffo acting as frequency coordinator for all 52 games in nine cities.
“That’s how I made a name for myself as a frequency coordinator for large events,” he says. “But I was sole proprietor of PWS. I coordinated the World Cup from my family room. As soon as I signed the contract, my fax machine started clicking away with messages from all over the world, which is when I realized I’d undercharged the [World Cup] committee, horribly.”
Still, it proved to be a big boost, and he added staff when necessary to handle the increasing demand of shows, rentals, repairs, designs and installations.
“Eventually we had five technicians in our family room and Eleanor said, ‘You guys have to leave now’,” he adds, laughing.
Although Stoffo ultimately sold PWS to Masque Sound, he maintains a great relationship with the company and still works the same shows he did as the owner.
“PWS is still my first choice for custom product designs and, in fact, Geoff Shearing (president of Masque, who orchestrated the PWS purchase), is a partner in RAD. Most companies, as soon as the contract is up, go their separate ways. Geoff and I did the opposite and we’ve become very good friends.”