Some of you may be aware of this speaker from its recent appearance at Heathrow, further some more of you know that TomTom James has loaned me that pair to try at home for the last few weeks.

I'm aware that there are many discussions regarding larger speakers from more traditional brands on the forum but thought I'd share my experiences with you for those looking for something more room friendly and, some may think, a more esoteric but decidedly practical design.

The background to the trial is that I have an 11 month old baby who is clearly going to be more active than his sister was at a similar age and my SF Concertos on Foundation stands are just a bit too unstable and a bit far from the wall, if placed ideally, to allow us to feel secure that we won't have a flattened little boy! So I was looking for some stable floorstanders that could be placed close to the wall and, after some shocking expenditure already this year, within a certain budget. James initially made a couple of suggestions and also told me that the Gurus would be on show at Heathrow when I visited. I was not initially interested as I wanted floorstanders, you see. However when I and Mark (Chillkram) walked into that show room, we were both immediately very taken not only with the quality but sheer scale of sound that came from these things. And between 2 or 3 visits, spent a large part of our day in there!



I figured right away that they could do very well. OK, they're standmounts again but due to their monitor type dimensions and the squishy feet that are part of the design, they are much more stable that the SFs and lighter too. Further the Kudos stands seemed very topple proof. And key was that they just sounded great.

So I quickly arranged with James to borrow a pair. He also lent me a pair of Kudos C20s as a more traditional potential solution.

I got the Gurus into my own room, with great anticipation set them up where the SFs were and...was initially a bit disappointed. Not with the quality, that was very apparent but the scale I had heard before was missing. James suggested they may be better with wider spacing and after moving a small table around which made only a difference of about 8 to 10 inches between them, Wow! What a noise. It was like magic.

They performed an amazing trick of not only seeming to make the speakers themselves disappear but provided such a huge scale of sound up, over and around the direct centre soundstage it was actually quite bizarre from little boxes. Bands, solo pianists, voices, drum solos all did the same thing. And bizarrely again (at least I hadn't heard this before), if you stand up, the height of the soundstage rises with you too. Over the weeks they got better and better with a lovely flowing, pacey rhythmic sound with excellent placement. Very, very lifelike. I have honestly rarely heard better and just found myself thinking "This is great!" I was always itching to send the kids out to do something else so I could just grab a 5 minutes session. Absolutely terrific, I can't tell you how happy I was to find a child friendly, within budget solution, not only without sacrificing sound quality but finding something that actually sounded better.

(BTW, I did try the C20s for a few hours one day but thought...Nah!!! Couldn't wait to get the Gurus back in,)

On Saturday I had to take them back. Boo! But I placed an order for a pair and hopefully my own should be with me shortly. Hurray!

The acid test came when I got home and put my beloved SFs back, which I've been very happy with from new for 10 years now. Ahhh...like comfy slippers, the flow, the music, the lightness of touch still there but hang on... Where's the soundstage? Where's the pace? Where's the rock solid feel and sheer presence of the music? All these things I'd got used to over the previous few weeks and never contemplated I wasn't getting before, were gone. The SFs are far from bad speakers and are lovely in their own right but now I just can't wait to get my Gurus!

Jamie,

if you don't mind me asking, what do they cost?

Ryan

Jamie
Great write-up. Like you my partner Rachel and I spent quite a bit of time in the Guru room at Heathrow. We thought it was an amazing sound pouring forth from those little enclosures. The piano black finish seemed very high quality too.

What are you doing for stands? I think James said that he had "improvised" for the show, Basically by attaching a top plate at 90 degrees to its normal position to accommodate the Gurus' unusual planform.

What are you doing with your SFs? Mothballing them or selling them on?

Anyhow, good luck. What is the lead time on the Gurus? Waiting for new kit always seems interminable!

Thanks for the write up Jamie - I'm exchanging emails with James at the moment with a view to auditioning these.

As much as I enjoy my Art Skibos I'd like something that I can place near the wall.

Did you have them bang up against the wall or pulled forward - if so by how much. Did you do much experimenting with position, and what did you notice?

Thx,

M

Nice one James. I must say that they are probably the most amazing small speakers I have heard at a show.

How long are they making you wait and is that right you will be the first in the UK?

Mark

Ryan, depend son finish but about £1600 - £1700

Chris, James did have some Kudos stands with an MDF top flate bolted on at H'row which I borowed with the Gurus. Guru are going to produce their own top plate to fix to stands, I'm going with the Kudos which seemed perfectly fine and very stable. The SFs will need to find a new home. James is expecting some Gurus in 2 to 3 weeks, there is a single part hold up at the moment apparently.

M. Up against the wall. Angled in to almost 45' so the 'near' corner was about 3 cm from wall and the far one 15cm. I did experiment with positioning, mainly in the space between them, small movements in and out brought fine measures of change, but it's the gap between them that seemed key, they are meant to be up against the wall and I doubt if they'd work as well away from wall but I had no need to try so can't be sure.

Mark, UK and Europe! Yes, they are very good, I keep being tempted to say '...for small boxes' but they stand up (so to speak) in they're own right. They also respond to (pre)amp changes, having heard them with supernait, 102 and an 82, all were good and each let the character of the amp come through. Don't need big power though.

Sounds good James (boom boom). Do keep us posted.

OK James, when received, installed and run in, I'll let you come and have a play if you like

I was hoping you'd say that

Jamie,
How long is the burn in on those.
I have heard a lot of good things about your new speakers.
Stuart

Hi Jamie,

I want them close to the wall - so that sounds ideal.

Please give an update in due course.

Many Thanks,

M

Reading this thread makes me think this is a cunning add campain IMHO of course

Rockhopper,

Maybe ...but this speaker has been making independent waves on the internet, and I had already contacted James; so I am very glad to get some reports from fellow forum members - good or bad!

M

quote:

Originally posted by Rockhopper:
Reading this thread makes me think this is a cunning add campain IMHO of course

Nope. I've nothing to do with Guru. Or TomTom. I have had a terrific experience with these speakers and I'm sure many other listeners with a similar budget and listening conditions would appreciate personal commentary from a forum member, as opposed to wondering if the strong reviews I suspect these will get from the maggies in the future are accurate. In the past I have shared my experiences with HiFi equipt. and dealers, good and bad, with the forum. I'm sure that's allowed isn't it? Certainly I have seen plenty of other comment and 'review' about different speakers on the forum recently.

Stuart, these were new at Heathrow and then I had them for nearly four weeks. They were good from when I got them and got better. So, I don't know about total burn in time yet. These are not 'mine' though, they are James' demo pair and I have put an order in for my very own

quote:

Originally posted by JamieWednesday:

quote:

Originally posted by Rockhopper:
Reading this thread makes me think this is a cunning add campain IMHO of course

Nope. I've nothing to do with Guru. Or TomTom.

Me neither. I was with James at Heathrow when we heard these in the Tom Tom room and we were both bowled over. I too suspect you will hear more about these in the press over the coming months.

Mark

Hi Jamie,
How have you been getting on with the Guru's?
Have you recieved your pair yet? James hasoffered me his demo pair to have a listen to, interested to hear how they have settled in at your place.
Thanks steve

I now have my very own pair of Gurus! still first in Europe apparently.

Boy did I miss them after the demo pair went back, even straight out of the box, IMO these are quite something and I know I have more to come over the next few weeks. Months?

New stands from Kudos underneath them and Guru supplied a pair of nicely bevelled fitted plates, with suitable recesses for the speakers feet, to fit between the stands and the speakers.

New speaker cable from Mogami.

And a new transport and chip in the CDP when it made a trip home to Salisbury.

Oooh, all so shiny and new!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by JamieWednesday:
.. still first in Europe apparently.

Surely they've had them in Sweden for years!

Glad to see you've finally got them, James. It's been a bit of a wait, but obviously well worth it.

Mark

quote:

Surely they've had them in Sweden for years!

Dunno. Apparently he's only been doing his bespoke things over the years and it's only recently that the production of the QM10 has been set up. James has had Purchase enquiries from people in Sweden, so I guess not.

quote:

Originally posted by JamieWednesday:
it's only recently that the production of the QM10 has been set up.

Ah, I must have misunderstood what they were telling us at Heathrow then. I thought they said that they had been available in Sweden for years.