The B&W 603S2AE is a plain looking box but is a very good speaker for the dough, even head to head with Revel or Focal equivalents. Denon makes some of the best value AVRs, too, but for the same cost a more targeted integrated might have been a “better buy”. Really depends on whether the friend is looking for TV integration or mostly music listening. Sphinx has no DAC and many TVs have no analog outputs.
Was my friend given misinformation.
My friend is just getting into audio for a music system. In his price rang I thought the Rogue Sphinx V3 would be a nice choice. He could also look at the Revel Concerta 2 line of speakers. Well he decided to stop by Magnolia at Best Buy. Not a bad setup he got a Denon 3700 AVR and a pair of B&W 603's. He said the salesman told him to stay away from integrated amps as they are not anything but stripped down AVR's without the features. So I guess all us owners of 2 channel preamps and integrated have been duped. Who knew??