KMR Audio was founded in 2003 by a small team of audio bods, all obsessed with music and the recording process. The intention from the beginning with KMR was to be a home for high-end studio equipment; anything that we thought was a genuinely good piece of recording gear that could prove useful in a session (didn’t matter how much it was or who made it) we wanted to make available to our customers. We also wanted to make sure we had a strong working relationship with the manufacturer so that anything we sold could be supported fully – there’s no point in something sounding good if it goes down during a session. And these remain our guiding principles when it comes to the manufacturers we work with – amazing sounding gear, and professional levels of support.
Since our humble beginnings representing only a handful of brands, we now carry everything worth carrying with hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of demonstration, new and used gear in stock. We’re pretty sure there is no better stocked dedicated studio supplier outside the States with our variety of classic and esoteric products on display or for purchase.
Our home since the very beginning has been in leafy North London, at the very top of the Northern Line and (although stretching the concept of actually being in London), we are on the Tube and have excellent transport links close by with the M25, M1, North Circ and various airports within striking distance. We’re always blown away by how far people will travel to visit us; we’ve had visitors from all over Europe, North & South America, Asia and Australia. Part of the reason for this is our (head spinningly dazzling) showroom that also houses all our stock, which includes everything from basic cabling requirements to consoles, main monitors, outboard and mics of all shapes sizes and prices as well as a burgeoning high-end synthesizer selection. The other reason people travel from so far to visit us is our knowledge and passion for what we do.
All our sales and tech team have true technical chops - all of us have worked in studios and been embedded in the industry for decades. Always keen to share/show-off our knowledge, we encourage anyone who is serious about music production and needs advice to contact us. We have no agenda other than to honestly share our opinions and make a friend, who we then hope will become a customer for life. Staying in business is important, but staying in business with integrity and a firm eye on the long term is even more so.
KMR really has become a home in the last 17 years, not just for the those of us that work here (having not succeeded with earning a decent living purely from music production), but for all our suppliers and customers from around the world. We consider ourselves part of the wider audio community, and are foremostly decent people who genuinely love what we do – we want to look after you and your studio and help you make beautiful music!
Please let me know if we ever fall short of these commitments or if you have any suggestions for us – Keith Malin (co-founder and Managing Director)
KEITH MALIN — Managing Director
Co-founded KMR in 2003. Since KMR became a proper business, I now spend more time buried in business stuff rather than audio stuff – but this is all to the good as it allows our talented and experienced team to focus their energies on the gear, knowing that the lights will stay on and everyone will get paid!
FAVOURITE GEAR: Crane Song STC8.
PLAYLIST: Stevie Wonder, Todd Terje, Frank Zappa
EMAIL: keith@kmraudio.com, | TEL: +44 (0) 20 84452446
NICK STRINGER — Sales Manager
Nick Stringer has been with KMR Audio since 2011, he has a long history of working in the pro audio industry and studied foley and sound design. He might struggle playing guitar but can tell you everything you need to know about studio gear.
FAVOURITE GEAR: Barefoot MM12
GEAR EXPERTIZE: audio interfaces, speakers, microphones
PLAYLIST: Bob Dylan, Blues Brothers, Planetary Assault System, Sam Fox, Oasis
EMAIL: nickstringer@kmraudio.com, | TEL: +44 (0) 20 84452446
STEFAN POPE — Senior Sales
Stefan has an uncanny ability to help music producers identify the best equipment to suit their application. He has an insanely deep and detailed knowledge of everything from large format recording consoles to outboard and converters.
FAVOURITE GEAR:lava lamp
GEAR EXPERTIZE: mixing consoles, outboard, audio interfaces, speakers
PLAYLIST: The Beatles, Luke Vibert, The Police, Polvo, Claude Debussy
EMAIL: stefan@kmraudio.com, | TEL: +44 (0) 20 8445 2446
TOM LEWIS— Synthesizer Product Specialist
Tom has been part of the music retail scene since 2004 and has worked in many different roles throughout his career. Since 2014 he’s been working for KMR as our synthesizer product specialist and is responsible for all things that bleep.
FAVOURITE GEAR: ASM Hydrasynth, Elektron Octatrack
GEAR EXPERTIZE: synthesizers, modular, drum machines, samplers
PLAYLIST: Deftones, Aphex Twin, Reuben, Orphx, Jon Hopkins
EMAIL: tom@kmraudio.com, | TEL: +44 (0) 20 8445 2446
LI DAGUERRE — Sales
With over 15 years in audio gear sales, Li’s musical background is in sound design and sound-to-picture. He generally gets excited about things filled with tubes, transformers as well as knobs and oscillators although his (not so) secret passion is for 90s hip hop, 70s funk and obscure dusty old vinyl
FAVOURITE GEAR: Roland Juno 106, Moog MIDI MURF, Overstayer 8755DM
GEAR EXPERTIZE: audio interfaces, outboard, speakers, microphones, synthesizers
PLAYLIST: George Clinton, Madlib, Captain Beefheart, Flying Lotus
EMAIL: li@kmraudio.com, | TEL: +44 (0) 20 8445 2446
TOM SHORTER — Technical Manager
Tom is very tall and knows pretty much everything there is to know about all the gear we supply. He looks after everything that's broken or not quite up to scratch in the world of KMR, as well as keeping our vast fleet of demo stock moving… and did we mention he’s very tall?
FAVOURITE GEAR: Vertigo VSM, Crane Song Avocet, Highland Dynamics BG2
GEAR EXPERTIZE: everything
PLAYLIST: Herbie Hancock, Grover Washington, Dr. Dre, Sohn
EMAIL: tech@kmraudio.com, | TEL: +44 (0) 20 8445 2446
JAMES BURTON — Technical Support
After starting out playing drums and guitar in bands, James shifted his focus to recording and engineering. He has run his own studio for a number of years and is passionate about all things studio and tech. Once on a third date, he taught the lucky lady how to solder XLR’s – there wasn’t a fourth!
FAVOURITE GEAR: ATC SCM25A’s
GEAR EXPERTIZE: speakers, mics, preamps, outboard
PLAYLIST: Counterparts, Invent Animate, Fit For An Autopsy, Turnover, John Mayer
EMAIL: james@kmraudio.com, | TEL: +44 (0) 20 8445 2446
PAUL LAVIGNE — Web Manager
Our resident Frenchman, Paul brings a little “je ne sais quoi” to the team. In addition to his passion for everything relating to electronic music, he has spent the last 15 years honing his skills from live sound to mastering. He joined KMR in 2013 and is the man behind the KMR website.
FAVOURITE GEAR: Buchla Music Easel, Formanta Polivoks, Crane Song HEDD
GEAR EXPERTIZE: mastering equipment, synthesizers
PLAYLIST: Throbbing Gristle, Orphx, Portishead, David Bowie
EMAIL: paul@kmraudio.com, | TEL: +44 (0) 20 8752 9627
RAB — Marketing Manager
Rab was a research scientist before dropping out to bum around India. He has been in equipment sales and installation since 1991, joined KMR in 2013 and now takes care of marketing. When he’s not glued to Photoshop, he’s usually strapped into his cycling lycra or noodling on a guitar.
FAVOURITE GEAR: Huss & Dalton 000, ever-evolving pedal board, Schoeps CMC6/Mk21
GEAR EXPERTIZE: most things - just don’t ask him about PC’s or DJ kit (ever!)
PLAYLIST: Gong, Plaid, Miles Davis, Allan Holdsworth, The Zombies, Sparks, Steel Panther
EMAIL: marketing@kmraudio.com, | TEL: +44 (0) 20 8445 2446
ENA JOWAH — Purchasing
Highly passionate music tech specialist, Ena has been in music retail since 2001 with experience in sales, studio installation and teaching music tech. He is our purchasing and products manager, making sure our shelves are always well stocked!
FAVOURITE GEAR: Genelec 1031, UA Apollo
PLAYLIST: Gil Scott-Heron, Howlin Wolf, Massive Attack
EMAIL: purchasing@kmraudio.com, | TEL: +44 (0) 20 8445 2446
CALLUM BROWNSON-SMITH — Logistics Manager
Callum has been KMR’s dedicated logistics guy since 2014. A bassist by trade, gigging regularly with his extreme metal band, he makes sure everybody gets their orders on time and in good condition. He’s also the hairiest guy in the store by some margin.
FAVOURITE GEAR: Barefoot MM27’s, Epiphone bass
PLAYLIST: Dead Can Dance, Bathory, Roky Erickson, Rome, Morbid Angel
EMAIL: callum@kmraudio.com, | TEL: +44 (0) 20 8445 2446
TONI KORSTEN — General Manager KMR Audio Germany
Toni single-handedly runs KMR Germany and wears many hats – sales, customer support, technical support, shipping, marketing, accounts and HR (of himself!). He’s a busy guy and really knows his stuff when it comes to gear.
FAVOURITE GEAR: Barefoot MM27
GEAR EXPERTIZE: a bit of everything!
PLAYLIST: Michael Jackson, Timbaland
EMAIL: toni@kmraudio.de, | TEL: +49 (0) 30 5523 0658
NICK MITCHELL — Content Creator
Nick is a classically trained multi-instrumentalist with a long history in both studio work and music retail. He now runs a private studio, bringing his extensive knowledge of equipment to bear in creating content for our website and taking care of our social media.
FAVOURITE GEAR: Dramastic Obsidian
GEAR EXPERTIZE: outboard, monitors, Pro Tools
PLAYLIST: John Mayer, deadmau5, Chickenfoot
EMAIL: nick@kmraudio.com, | TEL: