Guru Speakers - availability in UK at present?

I think you may struggle as they have had a lot of supply and manufacturing issues. Having heard them and the QM10 also, i'd recommend something that i consider a lot better, readily available and work amazingly with the Qute and above, the Russell K Red 50. Only issue is they need to be at least 30cm from the rear wall unlike the Gurus which work against it.

Skyhigh, I was looking into buying a set of Guru's and like you found little info with regard to UK availability. I contacted Guru direct - this was in March IIRC. Erik Ring replied, stating that Guru currently do not have a UK agent, but were hoping to find a new UK distributor at the Munich High End Show, then have product with dealers by August / September. I’ve not heard anything since then but will drop them a line some time this month. Erik did say that they can sell direct to UK residents, but obviously the potential customer does not have the preferred option to be able to evaluate and compare the Guru speakers against alternatives in a dem room. 

I have to admit to not pursuing things in earnest with Guru, having since heard the Russell K speakers

EDIT: Agree with Gary, its worth auditioning the RK speakers - any of them!

You could try some PMC twenty.21s, which work really well with the SuperUniti. The Gurus may be very good, but if you can't actually get hold of them...

Another vote for Russel K Red 50 speakers... they seem to sound great with more modest Naim amps.

Simon

Thanks all for the feedback.

@Simon - I believe from some of your posts you are an ATC fan? I hope to try some SCM11 or SCM7 this week. In your experience, how close to the wall can you put these? 

So far I have tried:

Elac BS312 - absolutely loved them at the local dealers - but this was in a large room. At home the bass was overwhelming in the study, even a metre from the wall (which isn't very practical for me), and the room is only 3.5m long. I did not try bunging up the ports which I may have to revisit. I loved the forward, punchy presentation in the mids and treble.

KEF LS50 - rather underwhelmed and hard to see what the fuss is all about. Very focussed sound with a narrow sweet spot. Not very entertaining. Did not like being within 0.5 metre of the rear wall. I asked for the dealer to put the foam bungs in but they could not find them. 

Proac DB1 - same dem as LS50 and considerably more entertaining - thick and heavy bass when placed nearer to the wall though (& a lot more expensive).

Currently the study system is using Neat Iotas which I prefer to all of the above in my room setting. Yes the lowest frequencies are effectively cut off, but they bass that they do play is very tuneful, which to my ear is preferable.

My main system is classic flat earth - CDS/82/HC/SNAXO3-6+SC/3xCB250/Modified Isobariks - I am not blind to the shortcomings of this, but it is very entertaining. I have used the SuperUniti as Pre-amp/streamer in this system and it is good, but I prefer the NAC82.

Perhaps I need to try some early model sealed box Linn Kans?

Many thanks

Anyone know what happened re TomTom being the UK agent?

I heard the Gurus there a few years ago and they were very impressive indeed.

You will struggle to buy a set of Gurus which is a shame.  When I bought mine some years ago they were already struggling to supply them and I persuaded my dealer to let me buy their demo set at full price.  I sold them twelve months later with my dealer selling them on my behalf to a customer on their waiting list and got all of my money back.  I still wish that I had had another room where they could be usefully used because they are a brilliant little set of speakers and they looked gorgeous too

I was asking my naim dealer about guru speakers compared against the russell k speakers and he thought was that the guru juniors were a better speaker, so lets hope they become available again so we can compare. Noticed on the guru website a improved guru junior was produced,was this model ever on sale in the uk ?.

Perhaps try hearing them yourself Keith. I've heard both, and far prefer the Russell K. 

Yet another vote for the Russel K Reds, having heard them at the end of a Naim system where they were exceptionally fine. 

gary yeowell posted:

Perhaps try hearing them yourself Keith. I've heard both, and far prefer the Russell K. 

Will do if they become come back to the uk , did hear the russell k 150 speaker on the end of a naim system and for the money they were not my cup of tea.

Yes i heard the 150s at the Signals show, and i was slightly disappointed. I have heard the 100 at Signals on a 300 and it was incredible, and have had the 50s at home, which were equally incredible, especially on a Qute.

gary yeowell posted:

Yes i heard the 150s at the Signals show, and i was slightly disappointed. I have heard the 100 at Signals on a 300 and it was incredible, and have had the 50s at home, which were equally incredible, especially on a Qute.

Maybe bigger is not better,i did read that Russell did say it was harder to design a floor standing speaker than a stand mounted one. In your experence would you choose the 50 or 100 for sound Quality .

I think they could be equally good on different levels of amp and different rooms. In outright terms the 100 offers a bit more but likely demands a better amp to do it. The 50 possibly has a little bass lift to make it sound bigger, which can work against it in very small rooms close to a wall. If i was in the market, my system and room would likely dictate, however given the choice of either and considering the not too big price difference i'd have to try both at home. One big plus for the 50 is its size, and ability to sound great on the end of lesser equipment. I would also only consider the wood finish!

@YetiZone, thanks I emailed Eric@Guru and got the same response. Directly supply only from them into the UK at present. I also got a response from a UK dealer who was advertising them saying that with the Juniors there had been both supply and quality problems. The first shipment of Juniors in limited numbers were rejected due to poor build quality.

Just arranged to hear some ATC SCM11's today.

I purchased the Guru Junior's two years ago after extensive demoing and have been very happy with them in combination with a NAP 100. Currently I continue to use them in my second set in combination with a Nait2 which seems to be a great match as well. I also love the design and the fact that they need to be close to the wall. Guru had huge production and supply problems which is probably the reason why they do not have a distributor in the UK anymore. They are quite easy to purchase second hand here in Sweden (not surprising Guru being a Swedish brand). 

@Skyhigh, Ah, so no progress on the Guru UK supply front then. Sigh. That is a real shame. Look forward to observations of the ATC's. 

The search is over.............. I listened to and bought ATC SCM11's this afternoon.

I thought they should be good for my requirements as they are a sealed box design.

Initial impressions were a little under whelming - but they were delivered to the dealer today and has 45 mins run in before my demo. 

I pushed the volume up a bit during the demo (using my own SuperUniti) and over the course of about 90 mins either the speakers loosened up or my ears tuned in.  Great speakers. They seem unflappable. I played White Stripes Ball and a Biscuit, a pretty dirty and aggressive recording, and the ATCs presented it with a complete grip I've not heard before.

To these ears, the bass presentation is just right. Not massively deep, but clean, clear and punchy. Give me this over flabby overblown bass any day - quality before quantity.

I thought the SCM7 would be a better fit size wise, but having got the 11's home they fit in fine, and seem happy close to the wall.

Streaming the 320kbps feed of BBC Radio 4 is just incredibly realistic. They would be amazing on my old Naim 5 series FM tuner (now owned by a good friend).

I'm also pleased to have bought a wholly British made product, in fact, from the same county in which I reside.

Looking forward to improvements as they run in, which I've been told to expect after at least 100 hrs of use.

Thanks for all the responses on this thread.

Yetizone posted:

@Skyhigh, Ah, so no progress on the Guru UK supply front then. Sigh. That is a real shame. Look forward to observations of the ATC's. 

@Janus, interesting regarding the Junior quality control. I wasn't aware the Juniors specifically were so badly affected. Very disappointing indeed. Fingers crossed that Guru have solved the issues.  Its the near wall Guru flexibility of placement that greatly interests me. If not for the Russell K’s needing space, I would own a set of the RK 50’s! 

Where would be the best place to look on the Swedish second hand market? Are there specialist Hi-Fi for sales sites / specific retailers who can supply used Guru's?

From what I understood, it is not entirely Guru's mistake. When demand increased (positive reviews in UK audio magazines) Guru decided to shift production from Sweden to China, the first batch was fine but quality soon got worse and Guru had hardly any supply. In the end they decided to move production back to Sweden, but this whole exercise cost them a lot of money and probably a lot of customers, especially in the UK. Still, these are great speakers that seem underestimated. I personally think they look great, especially in white piano lacquer.

Good luck on your ATC's though!

Skyhigh, not ever listened to the SCM7s, but the 11s and above seem to like about 30 to 45 cm..any closer and I find they sound a little boxed in and seem to loose some of their punch... might be dependent on my room conditions.

BTW the bass can go very low with the ATC 19s , IE down to rumble, it is attenuated but is dependent on room, stands and amps seemingly on the degree of attenuation... very impressive with no boom or resonance.

enjoy your 11s. They will take a couple hundred hours or so to loosen up to sound really integrated and subtly punchy.

S

gary yeowell posted:

I think they could be equally good on different levels of amp and different rooms. In outright terms the 100 offers a bit more but likely demands a better amp to do it. The 50 possibly has a little bass lift to make it sound bigger, which can work against it in very small rooms close to a wall. If i was in the market, my system and room would likely dictate, however given the choice of either and considering the not too big price difference i'd have to try both at home. One big plus for the 50 is its size, and ability to sound great on the end of lesser equipment. I would also only consider the wood finish!

I was talking to our dealer today and he really rates the 150s on the end of a Statement... BTW apparently there was a fault on their initial pair of 150s.. Not sure if it was those you heard.. Yes apparently the 50 has a deliberate bass lift to make it sound better on more modest amps. The 100 doesn't have this lift, more neutral, but to some ears this can make it sound leaner... I guess it depends whether you like sugar in your coffee or not.

S

Yes apparently so Simon, regarding the 150s. No the pair i heard at the show were the good ones, but the room, system and music didn't grab me on that day so i was underwhelmed. In the comfort of my own home or at our dealers well known environment things may be very different.

Unfortunately Guru, maybe due to what Janus described above, have according to Swedish forums serious financial difficulties  and has filed for bankruptcy.

Wheter this little gem will be produced in the future seems to be unclear.

Kind Regards

Thomas

I took the first pair of Gurus that came into the UK and was then able to do a straight swap when the v.2 came out. Still got them, still singing!

Funnily enough, I have Neat Iotas in study too...Marvelous things

NaitRider posted:

Unfortunately Guru, maybe due to what Janus described above, have according to Swedish forums serious financial difficulties  and has filed for bankruptcy.

Wheter this little gem will be produced in the future seems to be unclear.

Kind Regards

Thomas

 

I sent an email to Guru US distributor and they replied that the Junior+ were available and in stock. Was almost ready to hit ''add to cart'' button. Then I landed on UK site and it says they're not available. Now I'm reading this