Guru Speakers - availability in UK at present?

JamieWednesday posted:

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

Just curious, how do the Iotas compare to the Gurus?

In April this year a guy that I was in contact with forwarded me the following message (originally in Swedish but Google translated):

We have had a heavy period, largely because of problems in production. But we have a good solution now which will also bring a bit smaller workload for me. I've had the Guru as side jobs and freelanced as a musician living and when it runs together so it becomes an unreasonable workload. There will be a change there too. It's awful funny that so many people are involved in what happens to us! It definitely helps to keep the steam up! Thanks!

Iconoclast posted:

JamieWednesday posted:

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

Just curious, how do the Iotas compare to the Gurus?

Well, different solutions to different issues

I originally had some SF's which were prone to toppling if biffed hard, so when child no.2 appeared to be quite lively some years back I took action to change, wanted near wall speakers to try and avoid accidents and was originally looking at floorstanders. From the off I was surprised about how much sound came from the Gurus. It is a big picture thing with the Gurus, and it's all about the music. They still surprise me sometimes with the scale and elegance of the music they present. Very organic somehow.

The Neats are newish and literally used as bookshelf speakers on a Kallax holding records and CD's, fed by a 30 year old ION Obelisk 3. Just changing things round a bit in study right now but am now pretty much just listening by streaming Tidal or Radio 3 from a £15 Chromecast audio(!) so simple set up in here. Stellar sound from humble roots IMO. The Neats are very musical too I think, though clearly a tad more lean and a little more precise than the Gurus. They are almost magical in how they disappear as sound boxes, though you can't beat physics completely. They are in almost constant daytime use in my study while working and they're fantastic.

Both speakers are very forgiving in placement in that they never sound bad but you should play around with them to get it just so. It was quite entertaining moving the Neats over to swap the ribbon tweeter from one side to the other for instance and seeing how i prefer them, tweeter out presents a big wall of sound coming down my study.

Very happy with both.

@skyhigh  

Welcome to the world of ATC SCM11. To my ears, they are well-balanced, precise and always, always musical. They're famously good in the mid-range, but the bass is almost more impressive - rather than the usual whump of many speakers at this price ('never mind the music, shut up and listen to my BASS'), the ATC's bass sounds like an actual musical instrument. Wondrous. They can take a while to settle in though, so keep playing them.

In terms of placement, they are remarkably flexible - being a sealed box design they are less affected by their environment than most. Around 30cm or more from the back wall seems optimal, but they'll go closer without fuss. I've played mine right up against the back wall and they were 99% as good.

I spoke with James of TomTom when he bought my amp off me. He did not indicate that TomTom are no longer distributor for Guru, but he did confirm the production problems. In fact the company had quality assurance problems with the Chinese Juniors and at the same time tried to get the 10s made in China too. So it was a perfect storm of production issues which meant there was no product available for a long time, and had basically gone completely off the radar until I spoke with him in June. He was crestfallen because he'd been so successful at building the brand here in the UK. I don't know if anything has changed since then.

Frank.

Both Russell k and Guru's are excellent speakers both giving some of what a much larger speaker can give and for those of us living in terraced 2 up 2 downs, flats and other homes with small rooms both speakers are an excellent compromise, I have the GURU QM10's and they love confined spaces I have mine on stands in the two alcoves either side of the chimney breast and they really do deliver amazing levels of bass but one thing they do not like is too much volume turn them up too loud and they can struggle but at medium listening levels they do make really enjoyable music.  I have heard the ATC11's on the end of a Uniti 2 and no doubt they are truly excellent speakers with amazing clarity but I do prefer the Guru's lower end especially when listening to Reggae, Soul and Jazz but as always it is horses for courses (and rooms) when it comes to speakers one thing  for sure it would be a real shame if Guru cannot overcome the problems they face as their designer is very talented at squeezing bass out of little boxes.                                                 

I use Guru Juniors in my main system. My room is small approx 13 ft x 12ft so I need close to wall placement.

They are great fun with incredible bass for their size. Real shame they have had production and distribution issues. Got mine from Tom Tom audio as ex demo as they were still awaiting supply of new stock a couple of years ago.

Hi All,

I got an interesting email from Erik @ Guru today.

"We do offer a 14 day money back warranty. We ship by FedEx and we send a return shipping note with the speakers for easy return. You just call FedEx for a pick-up and we’ll refund. If this is not for you, I’ll be sure to let you know who we appoint as distributor!"

So it seems there is a relatively risk free way to try Gurus out in the UK. Wish I'd got this last week before I bought some ATCs, however, very happy with the ATC's.

Hope this info may help others on this thread keen to try some Guru's on their Naim system.

Regards

How much are they aprox buying direct ?

@B_Lund - suggest you email Erik @ Guru. His details are on their website.

I did not ask as I just made my decision to by ATC SCM11's.

Since the terrible Brexit result here in UK, I suspect more expensive than a few weeks ago if buying in GBP!

Pound vs Swedish Krona not changed much.

I have been in touch with james at Tom Tom Audio who have been the UK distributors for Guru. To avoid any possible misinformation from proliferating on this thread, I would request that anyone in the UK interested in purchasing Guru speakers should contact Tom Tom Audio directly to discuss the matter. Thanks.