The best speaker you ever heard?

perhaps the question can be rephrased, for example:

"what speaker would you be willing to live with for a long time ?"

my answer would be : stacked quad esls and apogee duetta signature

Mrtennis, Quad ESLs are good, but having owned them thirty years ago, I would not consider them the best I have heard. There is so much interaction between front end, amps, cables, and speakers that I think it is hard to say what the best speaker might be.

The question is fine, it basically asks what the best speaker is that YOU have heard. That means nobody can argue against that, EVER. It just says a lot about that responders personal experience. If Mr Tennis feels that the Quads are his best ever speakers he heard, well that's a reflection of his personal experience and taste. Who can argue with that? :-)

It pays to keep listening to different speaker systems and setups though, just to validate ones experience and understanding of how it impacts sound ... you do have the right to change you mind and/or taste! Especially with ever improving sound reproducing technologies and products. And Tbg, don't forget the room impact...

I don't know if it was the room, the source material, or the associated equipment, but I was once absolutely captivated by Meadowlark Blue Heron's and wished I could afford a pair at the time. I recall I was listening to Stevie Ray Vaughans / Tin Pan Alley via a Wilson Benesch Full Circle and VTL 5.5 Preamp. That cut is a classic if ever there was one.
I never did like Meadowlark's updated cabinet design. I wonder if that was part of their undoing.

HQD, the hartley-quad decca set-up Mark Levinson put together, many years ago at Lyric in New York.