Was my friend given misinformation.

Who would ever listen to a salesperson at Best Buy. in the first place?  

Integrated amps have come a long way.  I dream of owning a Luxman 509.  Integrated amps help clear the clutter and they help to make room inside an entertainment center.  All I care about is knowing what's inside the cabinet.  If I had an expensive turn table, I would switch gears and go with a rack and use a small LED light on an arm to spotlight to show it off.  If I had a $100,00 sound system, I might look at things differently.  I wonder at times how many of our members have systems costing more than that.  

If he hasn't heard your system & you're willing to invite him into your house, you could invite him over for a listen.  Otherwise, he's made his choice.  I wouldn't hassle him about what he bought (or seek his advice on audio gear).

You can still talk about music, though!

The way to go about it next time around is to do what Richard Dreyfuss did in the movie, Let It Ride. He plays this down on his luck gambler who loves the horses and on one lucky day, he simply can't go wrong. 

On one race, he asks dozens of people who their pick is, marking it off on his program over and over and when he's done, he sees that one horse was never picked, so he picks that one, and it wins. 

Life is, as they say, a crapshoot.

All the best,
Nonoise

I get all my purchasing advice from $13/hour retail clerks who live in their mom’s basement. 

funny reading this thread

all i can say is sometimes in life folks get what they deserve... 😁