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
There are 2. The MBL 101-D can reproduce the dynamics and power of a symphony like no other, but at enormous cost as you need the $200,000 or so in MBL electronics to get you there. For smaller scale works, like most jazz and pop music, the transparency of the new Soundlab Model 1's (whether A, M or U) is breathtaking, and perhaps a new standard in clarity. Electronics MUST be tube for them to show their best. Either system requires large room dedication.
The best speakers I have heard are the big Analysis Amphitreons. They are an easy to drive planar speaker with a long ribbon tweeter. I have a smaller pair of analysis speakers called the epsilon that do most of what the larger ones do, but not all. I have heard them driven with 100 watts and they were fantastic.
Simplicity oh Grasshopper. Wharfedale Diamond 9.1. This message approved by H.D.Thoreau.
I've owned many different types of speakers over the years including single driver horns, Quad ESL57's, expensive multi-driver floor standing speakers, modified klipsch LaScala speakers, and several home built speaker kits. The best that I've heard with my Shindo Labs gear has been the Tonian Labs Classic 12.1's that recently played at the California Audio Show in San Francisco. These speakers have a single driver PHY HB30L15 driver paired with a Tonian Labs ribbon tweeter. The speaker is 97db - 16ohms and does not require much power to drive it. I've found that a good 300b amp is all you need to make wonderful music with these speakers although they also sound amazing with various types of amplifiers.