The best speaker you ever heard?


In my opinion, the speaker is by far the most important part of the audio system. After all, it is the only part you hear. OK, the other stuff really matters a lot, but without a great speaker... No go.

I am a bit 'speaker-obsessed' I guess, and now I am wondering: What are the best speakers you have ever heard, and what made them the best?
njonker
Quad 988 for $6K retail. Out of the 20 speakers Ive auditioned, utterly involving. Like live acoustic music. Need a sub woof. And romor had it not for punchy rock and roll.
I own Quad 63 USA Monitors, and love them, but do have to say that a pair of Quad 57s properly refurbished by Wayne Piquet had the most midrange clarity of any speaker I have listened to. My friend's Innersound Eros MKIII also gets a big nod from me as one of the best speakers I have listened to. As far as dynamics go, I had Northcreek Rhythms, liked them very much. Though the Quads stole me away from them, I probably will build Northcreek's budget Borealis speaker (or the new monitor kit they have) just to have a dynamic speaker for some heavier rock stuff. No one speaker does it all for me, but if I were to stay with one, it would be my current Quads, or another electrostatic (like Innersound, etc)
The VMPS RM40 w/TRT caps and dual LARGER subs can meet or beat anything I have ever heard.