Jim Westra
Founder & Owner

Born and raised in Rochester, Jim started Amalgamated Audio Video in 1976, when, after managing Team Electronics and Sound World stores, he made the decision to branch out on his own.  In 1986, Jim saw the need and opportunity for an audio/video store that also offered custom installation, so he expanded Amalgamated Audio’s operations to fill that niche, all while remaining focused on having a retail store-front that offered quality products, design, and great customer service.  Those areas have continued to be Amalgamated Audio’s mainstay to this day. In his spare time, Jim loves to golf and spend time with his family.

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Dan Aguilar
Design/Engineering Consultant & Managing Director

Dan joined the Amalgamated team as the company's first full-time in-house engineer in July 2005. Prior to joining Amalgamated, Dan earned his mechanical engineering degree from NMSU and worked as a Sales Engineer for Trane in New Mexico.  He also served in US Army Reserves for 8 years. Dan has a true passion for electronics and working with people.  Over the years, he has educated numerous clients and designed some of the area’s most impressive A/V systems.  Dan characterizes his engineering design philosophy as, “creating fun and easy to use solutions using the industry’s highest regarded products while allocating my client’s budget appropriately in order to stretch their dollar.”

In addition to Dan’s system design role, he also shares the responsibility of developing Amalgamated’s business strategy and vision to maintain the company’s core culture that has kept them in business for 35 years.  His hobbies include spending time with his family, watching movies, listening to music/audio books, working out, volunteering at Mayo Clinic, and keeping up to date on the latest business and technology news.
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Dan Hesby
Retro-Fit Installation Specialist & Custom Installer

Other than Jim, no one has been at Amalgamated Audio longer than Dan Hesby, who joined the Amalgamated staff in 1998.  After serving full-time in the U.S. Army for nine years servicing and maintaining tanks, artillery, missiles, and small arms, Dan began working in the residential security field in 1994 and expanded his skill-set to include retro-fit wiring and system installation.  Dan worked at Security Link in Colorado Springs, CO and also for Premier Alarm & Security here in Rochester before joining Amalgamated.  Over the past ten years, Dan has honed his retro-fit skills, and his unique talents allow Amalgamated Audio to seamlessly retro-fit older houses with new systems.  In his spare time, Dan is a devoted family man who enjoys grilling, fishing, and hunting.
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Brent Westra
Operations Director

Brent joined Amalgamated Audio in the Summer of 2006 after previously working in the marketing/communications department of the Hennepin County Bar Association in Minneapolis. Brent graduated from the University of Minnesota’s Journalism school in 2004 with a degree in Strategic Communication and currently handles a wide variety of tasks here at Amalgamated. Among them are the design and creation of Amalgamated Audio’s marketing and informational materials, as well as overseeing the logistics for Amalgamated’s projects.  When not at the store, Brent can often be found taking in a movie, or at one of the local dog parks with Keeley, his Irish Wolfhound.
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Fred Ciarletta
Lead Technician & Service Manager

Fred is the newest addition to the staff here at Amalgamated Audio.  He comes to us from DirecTV, where he previously worked as a service installer and technician.  Fred graduated from Brown Institute in 1986 with an Associate’s Degree in electronics.  In addition to DirecTV, Fred has also worked in Breckenridge, CO as a cable service technician.  Fred loves working and interacting with customers and he credits his time at DirecTV and Breckenridge Cable with preparing him for nearly every home theater installation scenario.  In his spare time, Fred loves to golf, fish, play softball, play pool and spend time with his family and Gypsy, his Miniature Pinscher.