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My friends... blind followers of this Audio Guru

Hello:
I have 2 friends that are "very hooked" on this audiophile thing.
They have been guided by this "sound guru" wich he has the representation of Kimber, Audioresarch, ProAC and other brands here in Mexico.
He is a well knowed guy in this thing with years of experience.
They have spent lots of $ just making upgardes, advised by him!

Lets put the example of one of them:

First started with:
Bryston: amp pream, now he switched to Audio research
B&W signature series sold them and now waiting for ProAC
CD: Had a Meridian, now he has a CD3 Audio research.
Cables inteconnect: he has upgraded lots of times! Kimber only: hero, tonic, KCAG finally he is with the Kimber Select 1030
Speaker wire, from kimber 4PR to 8TC
Power Kord: PK 10 Gold

Yes I know, lots of upgrades
But why not getting all the stuff once? or most of it once?

Is this normal? making upgrades grdually of the entire system?

Everytime we talk about audio, they threw lowballs on other brands that are not the ones recomened by the guru
they always say:
The guru says: Audio research is the best, the other brands NO, get away from them

Regarding inteconnects wich has been the debate theme, with tests over and over and over and over!! like
with this one you can hear a little bit more soundstage, with but little harsh etc etc.... tests like that
Finally they say "All the other brands are not worth"
If you are going to spend your money the cable to get is "kimber Select" if its not Kimber select, get the usual kimber but dont purchase other brand.

Like 7 months ago, I purchased a power kord from Mr Cable, Super Flex,10 gauge power cord
They laughed at me and told that was a horrible thing, one even didnt allowed to test it in his system because it was not Kimber and was ugly.

My sytem is not top of the line, but aIm happy with it
You can see it here, just search mexico.
Sometimes they make me laugh, or doubt, just becuase this guys says it
Yes I know there is a great debate of this, but they are the only ones spending over and over.

We dont have in here lots of brands, only a couple.

What do you think of them?

Ed :-0
128x128emalvido
7 responses Add your response
emalvido's avatar
emalvido OP
9 posts
 
My friends are hypnotized, we are in our mid 30`s the guru is in his 60`s, just because his age, they think that he has years and years of experience with the audio thing,
Buts its a simple marketing rule I`ll guess:
He is the representative of all those brands in here, they purchase everything to him.
The Guru is happy becuase he receives money from them, just in expensive upgrades.
"like simon says" thing tsk tsk :-(
I have told them this, so they can save a few bucks:
"ok ok the guru says to get some Kimber selct cables, why dont you get them from audiogon or ebay?" the repsonse is now way! we will get ripped off, We will buy them from him securely,.......... yikes!
They dont have the internet buying culture and also that on these days there are secure ways of paying and not get ripped, I have been selling buying on ebay for 7 years!
As a matetr of fact have buyed 2 runs of 4TC cable myself on audiogon and 2 runs of PBJ too.

I have myself a mexican made integrated amplifier
Margules ACRH 1.2 Hybrid amplifier combination of solid and tube on the pre
www.margules.com then enter the magenta section.
As matter of fact Margules is always on the CES
http://shows.soundstagelive.com/shows/ces2006/dly_diary_doug.shtml
musicslug
430 posts
 
if this 'guru' has any cojones, he will let you bring in a component he doesn't sell and let you do an A/B comparison with something he claims is better. and if you do end up doing this kind of comparison, make sure he doesn't influence the test: make sure the power cords, interconnects, warm-up,
set-up, etc. are identical.
p.s.personally if I encounter the kind of salesperson you're describing, I walk in the opposite direction; it is ridiculous to believe that all of these other brands that have had great success over the years aren't any good. you'll get better information off of the web (like here) than from this blowhard
epoo25ae4
1 posts
 
You'll find the same thing happening here on the gon. There is one who sell very expensive gear with a following of people who proclaim the products are the cat's meow and he is tied to a popular internet magazine as well. Some of the followers are on the inside. They help make the demand for sales.
markphd
667 posts
 
In your post the most important thing you say is this:

"My sytem is not top of the line, but aIm happy with it".

Nothing more needs to be said. You are to be commended for having the self confidence to form your own opinion and not be unduly influenced by others. By contrast, it appears that your friends need to be told what is best for them. They should arrive at this through independent judgment, although there is nothing wrong with the local audio guru offering his opinion, which may then be accepted or rejected.

I think that the brands which your friends used to have, and the brands which they now have, are all excellent. It isn't that they're being sold junk. It would be unfortunate, however, if the upgrade money they spent was due to the influence of the guru, rather than due to their own preference.

If somebody says that what they sell is the best, and all other brands are junk, take it with a grain of salt. The guy doesn't make money by directing potential customers to brands sold by other retailers. Also, he may truly believe himself that what he carries is tops. That doesn't mean that others have to agree. Always form your own opinion. Equipment can be quite different and what is best for one person may not be the best to another. If there was one absolute "best", everybody would buy it and all other brands would be out of business. Obviously this is not the case.
thsalmon
348 posts
 
You should enjoy your own system. The cost of the components does not necessarily correlate with the amount of improvement. From my own experience, your "guru" has pointed your friends toward higher quality and better-sounding components over time. However, the brands the dealer represents are not the only ones that could represent improvements over your friend's previous equipment.
rx8man's avatar
rx8man
1,475 posts
 
Emalvido,
You said it in your last paragraph, you are happy with your own system.
Let your two friends find out for themselves, laugh it off.
The only thing that matters are the things attatched on each side of your head, not anyone elses.
You should not care what the so-called audio "guru" says $$
Unless of course, he'd be willing to lend you his recommended equipment for home auditioning.
uppermidfi
277 posts
 
Funny coincidence that the guru always has the best, and everything else is junk. Starting to sound like... never mind.
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