what does PA stand for?

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Yep, its one of those "confused" terms...

PA can mean,

Public Address, which implies generally low quality "piped" sound as in railway stations, hotels etc. Here you have many speakers and require a special "Public Address" amplifier. The speakers each have a transformer attached to them, and are actually fed a 110v "line" signal from the amplifier. The level of each speaker can be adjusted by using different taps on the transformers.
The amps are quite useful , because a good one will have "zones" on it which can be switched on or off etc

or

Professional Audio, as in live bands etc with mixing desks, big amps , microphones etc
 
Matttcattt said:
what does PA stand for in this situation?

It still stands for Public Address, but this is now a generic term for any sound system used in a non domestic situation, in general referring to amplifying music or speech to an audience. Because of this, efficiency and reliabilty are paramount, rather than sound quality, but luckily this has been improving over the past few years.
 
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