Heard my friend's system, thinking of leaving hifi


I asked a friend to come over and listen to my system which consists of a Cary 303/200 CD player, Plinius 8200 integrated and Soliloquy 6.2 speakers with Acoustic Zen cabling all around, most of which was purchased from this site. He politely told me to gather my best music and invited me to go to his place and listen to his system.

He has some type of Meridian arrangement where the CD player goes directly to internally powered fullrange speakers. Oh my, the first 10 seconds and I wanted to cry! It was all there: imaging, soundstage, naturalness to all instruments, non-fatigue, front row... I've been to alot of trade shows and dealers in my area so I know what a great system sounds like and where my modest system stands in comparison, but geez that Meridian system sounded amazing! I mean it dwarfed all by comparison. (The only flaw that I could find was that in the systems current state it didn't allow for the addition of an FM tuner.)

Naturally most of us can't afford to drop that kind of money on a passtime. Certainly, I really can't afford to drop $50k on a system like that, but jeez it sounded great! I mean I came home and wanted to give my system away and find another hobby!

Does anyone have any suggestions about any changes I could make to my system to start working towards getting to that sound? I would say that first the speakers would have to go. Something "fuller" than the 2-ways I currently have. Perhaps something with powered woofers? His sytem seemed to present all frequencies in a balanced manner. Mine seems a bit thin in comparison and certainly lacks the lower end. Any suggestions would be appreciated...
portugal11
Please, a better description of the room. The room is the most important part of any system. Unfortunately, itÂ’s also the most ignored. If the room is not properly tuned, and the system is not properly setup, you can put a $200,000 system in it and still not reach audio nirvana.
Yes Active Speakers can indeed surprise you that much!! No passive crossovers and dramatically reduced IMD distortion and huge dynamics is like having a veil removed from the sound compared to passive speakers.

Of course it is not for everyone. Many people prefer a more relaxed or refined presentation or warm presentation then the dynamic, transparent and raw (sometimes harsh depending on the source material) sound of Actives. Judging from your observation of your friends system - you are the type person who likes "precision" - Active Speakers is the way to go and there are more models to chose from every year...PMC, Genelecs, Meridian, B&O, ATC, NHT, Adam, K&H....etc.

Anyway....IMHO it is highly likely that your friend's Meridian ACTIVE Speakers is the key to what you liked and heard.
I have a rich friend who dropped the big bucks on the digital Meridian system.

If it cheers you up at all, I thought it was terrible, and could put together a much better system from Audiogon classified ads for $5-$10K, no problem.

Don't give up. Your experience is all part of the wonderful process.
Yo,Portugall1; we have a few things in common. I live in an apt for one. I have a "L" shaped room and a tv 'tween the speakers.(huge tv). Over the years I have had several rude thumps just like yours and,yes,I remember each one and what components contributed as thumps.
While you have many tips from the members it's hard to have that which is many times over your budget.( I assume)
Life is full of compromises we all have to live with; even those that are only about audio equipment. And like somebody has already mentioned;just enjoy the music, and what pieces you can afford.
Wait....wait....here. It's all about the music, doesn't matter where it comes from, if it makes you happy and gets you up to boogie a little...life is great. You have to love mucis first.