Hi All,
Just wanted to share my experience with this company - TR THEATER RESEARCH. This company is the Headquarters of the business of scamming people by selling speakers from the back of Trucks/SUVs/Vans aka "The White Van Speaker Scam". What they typically do is yell at people from their cars looking like they're asking for directions. Then when you roll down your window they ask you if you want to buy some audio/home theater system. They then open their trunks and and they show you audio/home theater systems and say that they have an overstock and are just trying to sell them. They'll show you magazines and catalogs and they'll say some ridiculous MSRP around $2,000-$4,000. I know it sounds strange but they do come prepared wearing a company logo shirt, an employee badge, magazines with the items advertised in it. This is all to convince you that they are an actual company and that their home theater systems are legit. They will then negotiate with you as to how much you want for the items. If you say you're not interested they'll ask you to throw a price out. Once you do they'll act like they are giving you a deal. So many people have been scammed by these people. Just type in TR THEATER RESEARCH on Google and you will see this website along with others and you will see stories from thousands of people who have been ripped off by these people. Well I hope we can get these people off the streets. I mean it would be on thing if these were street vendors who were simply selling their items and not falsely advertising their items with fake MSRPs, inaccurate data on the specs of their items (2,000 watts vs what is acutally 200 watts), selling these items without a permit or license. But the fact is that there is an actual company that is behind all this. Trust me I've done my research. TR Theater Research is the company behind this scam. One of their brands is Paramax Audio (www.paramaxaudio.com). The website has a fake HQ and flagship in Huntington Beach, CA. If you Google that address it will show you a residential area right next to an empty lot. That's because their real address is at TR Theater Research in Cypress. The address is:
6122 Katella Ave.
Cypress, CA 90630
Ph: 714-894-5888
Fax: 714-892-1802
They use the fake Huntington Beach address to throw people off. Everything is run out their Cypress address located above. It's hard to find they hide it pretty well but I was able to find it.
The Paramax Audio website is registered under this company. The person it's registered under is Kelly Smith. Which is funny how many people have the last name "Smith" in this company. If you go to the office you will see patents for their receivers and speakers all under the name Glenn Smith. How unique. The person who was selling me the speakers was Brian Smith. They have a Better Business Bureau plaque hanging on their wall but if you check the BBB website you'll see that they have an "F" grade. I was able to write down all the names of the people working in the office b/c no one was at the front desk when I walked in.
They get their equipment from China. You can research on the web and find shipping documents that show their items come from China into the Long Beach docks where their office and warehouse is conveniently located near.
I went there demanding my money back for the junk that they're peddling and spoke w / someone who claimed to be Glenn Smith. Basically an overweight guy who looked like a crook you would see on 60 minutes comes out and defends he's running a legitimate business. He says he's the distributor of the items and that he has nothing to do with Paramax. This is a blatant lie because as I was leaving one of his employees pulls up in one of those SUVs that they sell their products from and hops of it wearing a Paramax t-shirt and walks straight into the building. I got the license plate number. "Glenn" refused to refund the money which I expected but he'll basically claim he's running a legitimate business at the same time never denying the practice of selling their items illegally from SUVs/Trucks/Vans. I already contacted the local authorities and gave them all the info including the license plate numer. Not sure if they're actually going to do anything. They did say if they were able to catch them while they're actually doing the transaction they will be prosecuted.
I feel the only way we can bring attention on this company is to publicly let people know by contacting the District Attorney's office and hoping they'll do some sort of investigation or by holding a public demonstration in front of their office in Cypress.
So for all of you those have been ripped off by the same company or similar type of company please contact the DA office or the local authorities. Hopefully with enough pressure they will start investigating this shady company and shut them down. I'm willing to partake in a demonstration if we can gather enough people. Hopefully it will bring light to what this company does and shut their operations across the U.S. Down.
Here is a good summary of this scam: http://en. Wikipedia.org/wiki/White_van_speaker_scam
Here are some of the brands that sell under:
Accusound[15] (not related to the Accusound speakers made by Audiosphere in Canada)
Acoustic Monitor, Acoustic Studio Monitor 3311/3312, Acoustic Response, Acoustic Image, Acoustic Lab Technology, Acoustic Reference[16][17]
Advanced Sound Technologies (AST)[17]
Afinity[18]
Ashton, Ashton Home Theater Systems[19]
Audio Resource[15]
Audio-Tech, Audio Tech Pro[17]
Audiofile[16][20]
BSS - Brendle Sound Systems[21] (No relation to BSS Audio, part of the Harman Pro Group)
Camelot Audio[15]
Carlson Audio[15]
Cerwin Vega (counterfeit)[22]
Cleo Acoustics (Singapore) [23]
Columbia Audio [10]
Definitive Sound Technology [24] (no relation to Definitive Technology)
Denmark, Denmark Audio, Denmark Optics[9][16][20]
Deutsch Akustik [25]
Dogg Digital, Digital Dogg Audio[16][17][26]
DanWave, Dan Wave[17]
Dahlton[16][17]
Digital Pro Audio, Pro Audio, Digital Audio, Digital Audio Professional Speaker Systems, Digital Audio Skyline, Digital Research[16][17][20]
DiVinci[17][20]
Dynalab[16][20]
Elite Audio[27]
EKO[15]
Eurosound[15]
Epiphany Audio[16][28]
Fleetwood Audio[29] (no relation to Cadillac Fleetwood)
Genesis Media Labs, Genisis Media Labs[17] (no relation to Genesis Technologies)
Glatten Audio[15]
Grafdale[16][17]
Hauffman[17]
Hyline [17]
I-Cinema[30]
Icon MediaLab, Icon Media Lab Digital Fusion[10][31] (No relation to LBi Ltd., the registered trademark owners of the Icon MediaLab name)
Image Audio Concepts[32]
JBL (counterfeit)[22]
Jannsonn & Fynn [33]
Kauffman[34]
Kinetic[18]
Kirsch, Kirsh[17][20]
Linear Acoustik[15]
Linear Phase[20]
London[28]
Matrix Audio[17]
Millennium Theater Systems (MTS)[17][20]
Norway Audio[35]
Olin Ross [36]
Omni Audio[16]
Oracle Projector[37]
Orix[15]
Palermo[18]
Paradyme[20] (no relation to Paradigm)
Paramax Audio [38]
Proline Acoustic[17]
Pro-Optics[37]
Protechnik[39][37]
Protecsound (PTS)[16][40]
PSD[16][17]
Pure Acoustics[15]
RDX [41]
Rothdale [42]
Samaurai[17][20]
Skyline[20]
Sutherland Technology[17] (no relation to Sutherland Engineering)
Theater Logic[43]
Theater Research, Theatre Research, Theater Innovations[16][17][20]
VAV[15]
Vokl Audio [44]
Volk Audio (also has a projector branch known as Volk Cinema) [45]
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