I was wondering if some of you have any experiences with the Guru Speakers “Junior” and the “Q10”. It is a little difficult to find a lot of opinions, but what I read to far they seem to be nice partners for Naim equipment. Unfortunately there are no dealers in Germany where I could test them.
How would you describe the differences between Junior and Q10. I am considering those speakers due to some space issues. I would love to be able to place speakers directly at a wall. Would you recommended one these speakers for partnering with a Uniti Atom in a 16 square meter room? Are the Q10 a huge step further in comparison to the Juniors?
I have never heard Junior, but I have QM10 and I can answer you some of your questions.
Yes, they go splendidly with Naim, Atom would be a great partner.
And yes, they work great directly against the wall.
I have upgraded my Gurus with Townshend Supertweeters and they make a great combination, but on the other hand, it is a substantial investment.
Hope it helped.
I cannot help you with the Q10s but I do have some lovely walnut Juniors. I have used these with a Nait 2, UQ2, SuperUniti, Atom and 32.5/110/non-Naim PSU (current setup) and yes, they are a very good match indeed.
I cannot believe that these little speakers are not spoken of more, they are so good. I can only imagine it is due to the production issues which beset their initial launch and the recent increase in price. But still worth the cost IMO.
I purchased on their launch as I, like you, needed to place them close to a wall and they have performed brilliantly with all Naim amplifiers.
Heard these speakers a few years ago and was very impressed. Sure that tom tom audio use to be the importers in the uk so i think they will know all about them. They switched their productions to China and then they went to direct sales and seem to disappear off the scene. I have noticed that they have a new model of the Juniors mark 3 ready to go. Both the Q10s and Juniors models worth looking out for, and a listen.
colomind, both models very good. Both play well close to wall and it recommended in the instruction. Junior also very happy to sit on shelf as well as on stands. With original soft legs (supplied with speakers) they sound better than on spikes.
Q10 sounds like bigger speakers for sure, but both models have great bass for thier size.
My Juniors works very well with Unitilite, also tested with 202/200 with great result.
They are not in production any more as far as I know. Also take only banana connection.
connect audio supplied a pair of QM to my dealer for an audition. If you or your dealer ask nicely you might get at lest one pair to listen for yourself. The QM works well on a shelf and close to the wall. In my (ca. 22 qm) room they lacked a little punch, but I’m optimistic they suit your smaller space.
We use the QM-10 paired with a Quite2 for radio replay in our summer cottage… The Gurus match very well with Naim and can be placed on a bookshelf tucked up against the wall. Surprising levels are possible but they do break up when pushed too hard…
Thank you very much for all your answers. I am really surprised that I got so much feedback on these more or less “niche products”. It is good to hear so much positive things. I now will definitely go deeper with the Gurus. Thank for all your advices. I will keep you updated if you like. First I have to complete the Uniti Atom/Star mission where I have another demo this week.
Happily, Guru Audio is back up and running and with new investment. I’ve had the Qm10, the Qm10 Mk Twos and have recently upgraded the drivers and crossovers within the MK Twos to the new MK Threes, confusingly called, simply, QM10. All paired with Naim, moving from the original Uniti, via SU to a 272 and PS. The upgrade is a large improvement at a very good cost. They can be driven a lot harder.
Erik at Guru was waxing lyrical about the new Junior model. I don’t know if Tom Tom Audio is, again, their UK reseller but one can order from Sweden via the website.
They are excellent speakers (winningly idiosyncratic) and pair extraordinarily well with Naim.
Looks like I have the right timing: I read a press release today that there is a new distributor for Guru speakers in Germany. The company is Audio Trade (ATR). They are distributing some other well known products as well like Pro-Ject, ATC, Cabasse, Stax, etc. I will contact them and ask if there are already retailers in Germany on their list for the speakers.
I am very happy that it will be easier again to get in touch with Gurus in Germany again …
I was referring to the designer, ingvar öhman’s approach to speaker making. He was less interested in lab test results than how they impacted the human ear. Instead of chasing graphs he was interested in how they were heard. You can web search a couple of interviews with him explaining his philosophy on this.
They have a lovely, chesty, midrange which is great for male and female vocals and they are horribly adroit. By which I mean - that they are very fast and very addictive: hence the synergy with Naim.
Christian. Just re-read your original post. With an Atom in a room of that size they will be splendid. They are designed to be flush against the wall. I recall James from Tom-Tom Audio pushing the Uniti and the original Qm10s as ‘sounding like a 10k system’ back in 2010. I’d imagine both bits of kit have improved since then.
I had first pair of QM10 Mk1’s in the UK(!) and then the Mk 2’s which I still use with 272/200.
Mine are against wall, angled in (you’re supposed to just be able to see outside edges), sat on Kudos stands with a baseplate fashioned to fit the shape of the speaker.
Gotta say I have never pushed them so hard that they start breaking up and yet they have gone very loud and very deep with the little blue lights flashing away merrily! (The lights come on when they can no longer guarantee ‘sonic purity’, not when they are actually descending into mush )
They are different from other makes though so I would listen first. You won’t get the woomph of floorstanders but each time I’ve thought about changing them I’ve been put off by how much I’d need to spend on an improvement.
What Jamie says. Indeed I think his review on the forum a decade ago inclined me towards the Gurus. The new drivers and crossovers take a good deal of punishment. I’ve had mine (driven by a CB 250) up to 60 on the volume and the overdrive lights have never turned on. That is plenty loud in a 5mx5m listening room.
Also, the point about bass is salutary. For a horizontal bookshelf, they make a large amount of bass. Later iterations don’t blow up. I think the first one had a paper cone driver. They sound, as Jamie says, unlike other things.
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