The best speaker you ever heard?

no question, the MBL 101s once on display in phoenix. i thot before i entered the room that a woman was singing via a mic or maybe very loudly a capella. then i saw it was speakers, i walked all around the room and the sound field was so realistic i wanted them on the spot, then i saw they were $30K so you see that was way back in 1993!!

i settled for some Apogees then Acoustat then wilsons Watts and now i still own all but the wilsons but i have NHT T6s too - too many speakers man!!! i want the 101s - too bad i will NEVER afford them!! they are like what - $50K new now??

Mostly used in recording studios. Very rare -- almost impossible to find.

N7369p,
I totally agree with you, those mbl's beat everything I ever heard. I have a hard time understanding how some don't hear what they do!!!
I hope some day if china copies any speaker it'll be the mbl's.

i thot before i entered the room that a woman was singing via a mic or maybe very loudly a capella. then i saw it was speakers, i walked all around the room and the sound field was so realistic i wanted them on the spot

Other speakers will do this. ATC for sure, but also many other speakers designed with as much care for the off axis response as for the typical flat on axis only designs. It is a shame but most people ignore off-axis response even if it is well proven to be a cornerstone to natural sounding speakers. Manufacturers know this and respond by concentrating on designs that have more extension (great highs and lows) - after all that is what sells.

The stuff coming out of Dr. Floyd Toole's work in the 70's => Energy Vertias 1.8, PSB, and Mirage are worth checking out.

On the whole during the 80's, there was a lot more attention to off axis response as opposed to the modern emphasis, which has migrated to bass extension and super-tweeters flat on axis to bat-only audibile frequencies...stuff that is only important on paper or in "my speaker freq response beats your speaker" threads. The midrange has been sadly forgotten in the battle of highs and extreme lows. Check out 80's designs - some are still made today - much the same as they were back then...

Coincident Pure Reference