Heard my friend's system, thinking of leaving hifi

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.

i have an entire house full of speakers, amps, cdp's, tv's, and gadgets (plus a dozen guitars, a piano, a clarinet, and a dulcimer). i have more stuff crammed into various closets, including wire, wire, and more wire.
but due to my present physical limitations, i lie in bed at night after dinner and a nap, and listen to my tivoli radio with a stereo speaker and dual subs. this is the best investment in audio i have ever made. i get commercial free music from alternative, jazz, prog. rock, classical, blues, etc.
there are only two adjustments i can make on the radio- tuning, and volume. sometimes i need to switch from the internal to external antennas for a weaker station. still and in all i either have hypnotized myself into thinking this arrangement sound great, or it really does sound great.
if you can deal with some rolled off high frequencies, and don't ask it to play bach's tocatta and fugue in d-minor, it does everything else wonderfully well. small jazz ensembles are simply outstanding.
i add this comment because i have heard wilson alexandrias (although not the version-2's sorry to say) and i still think good sound can come in some unusual packages. never in a million years would i have thought i would be writing about a table-radio system after investing tens of thousands on high-end audio, which will of course kill my little radio with one flick of one of it's woofers. but i need to get some rest at the end of a long day and i do NOT want to get up to put on music for reasons i will not get into here. fortunately there are some superb radio shows during the week- 24 hours a day.
buy your "friend" some merlot (or whatever) and invite yourself over when you want to hear everything on your cd's in full glory. as for upgrading your stereo, it just takes alot of time and patience. monitors are SO good these days (so i hear) that you don't need to get a really large set-up anymore. except for the bach of course...