The Music Room is Slipping

@larsman 

Not to speak for anyone else, but @tmraudio did use to offer interesting gear. Now it's all either audiophile vanilla like Aurender and Wilson, greatest hits like Pass Labs and Magico, or mid-fi / home theater-type stuff. And PS Audio of course.

During the same timeframe, their emails have become more frequent and more hard-sell.

TMR exists because there is a demand in the market for their services. If they're making money, I say more power to them, but they're becoming boring.

@devinplombier - maybe, but it seems to me that they'd be happy to buy anything there would be enough demand for that they could turn around and sell it and make something from it. They were willing to buy gear from Herron Audio, for example, which fits none of those categories you mention; not sure what they would refuse to sell that you wish they would. Besides the brands they carry, they can only sell what used gear people sell to them. If you don't like their emails, not much easier than contacting them and asking for fewer or none at all. 

@larsman It seems as though TMR is transitioning from an enthusiast-run company that would often offer unique or quirky little audio gems to a sales operation geared to safe, middle of the road tastes.

At least that’s the vibe they’re giving

I only mentioned their emails because they seem to echo that vibe. As you correctly pointed out, it’s easy enough to unsubscribe.

I for one think it’s sad that audio resellers are becoming increasingly homogenized and boring.

I’d say that’s false. They did make it uncomfortable for me when I wanted to return an item (and still paid $200 for the 5% and the shipping). I got two phone calls from the owner (that’s who he said he was) asking why I didn’t like it, why I wanted to return it. I am not complaining, there was no fine print that they can’t pressure me but I am setting the record straight. 

I’ve cited this example before, but across a few dozen purchases with TMR, I once flirted with a return - on a pair of Tannoy Glenair 10 speakers, ~7 years ago. As I received them, they sounded god-awful (basically broken). I knew that’s not how they were supposed to sound, as I’d heard that model several times in other systems. 

Whomever I got as a CS rep definitely pushed back hard, suggesting (in multiple volleys) that amp matching & room setup was critical on this model, insinuating I was some rube who hadn’t got it right yet. But no, in fact they were the idiots. I gave up on the return (waste of time dealing with them) and resigned to later fix them, replacing drivers if need be. Upon opening them to actually replace the drivers, I saw that the drivers had been wired wrong at both driver and binding posts! No wonder they sounded like SH**. And both speakers were wired in exactly the same very wrong way.

Anyways, I was less than impressed by 1. their "comprehensive gear testing" and 2. their returns process / CS. That said, I’m really glad I kept the speakers, because they are ROCKIN’ after rewiring, and now I’ve got a beautiful spare set of drivers for them too. I’ve acquired some of my favorite pieces from TMR over the years. Those Glenair 10's are still the "most speaker" I've heard for just under $2K.  But the "good deals" I enjoyed in past years are now seemingly much harder to find there - and I still browse their listings, regularly.