Some friends will take advice, and some won't. That's just the way it is. In defense of Magnolia, I went to the one near me and bought my Oppo there. The Magnolia section was separate from the rest of the store, and the guys there did know what they were selling. However, they only sell a few brands. They carried McIntosh and Martin Logan to name a couple. Not bad, but limited.
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??