The best speaker you ever heard?

Interesting comments regarding Quads.

I have a pair of ESL57 refurbished by Wayne Piquet, and they are truly stunning. More than enough bass to satisfy my love of Jazz, Classical, etc. Even Prince sounds majestic through these. The realism of vocals, and acoustic instruments are beyond reproach.

And yes, they do create a very realistic soundstage, disappearing on many good recordings. Also have a pair of Dynaudio C1 sig, and Proac 2.5. My Quads stand up to both quite well. More forgiving of poor recordings, and can listen for hours without fatigue.

I have become quite a fan of Sanders new 10D stats. Tough to find a flaw. First night I had them, I called the cops to report a robbery - they just dissappeared!

Tidal Audio Piano Cera's run with ASR Emitter 2 amplification. Simply a match made in heaven.

I heard one of the Gamut (Can't remember which model) floor standers at a London Hi Fi Show a few years ago. What a great sound - coherent, tight and everything so well controlled.
I have also heard great things about Vivid Audio. Unusual speakers made in South Africa. Roll on the Munich Hi Fi Show, May 17th '14!

Guys, I believe all of you. Years ago I heard some Maggies at my dealer (funny as four of the dealers I've spent a lot of money at have sold them, and they sounded good. They were driven by Krell KSA 250 I think it was. All Krell and top the line MIT cables. I still liked the Proac Response 4's better. I have only recently heard ribbons that I like too. It's just my ear I guess. The new Proacs with ribbons have sounded awesome with top tube gear and top analog and I liked some of the Legacy speakers with ribbons, but hated the model before them. I liked the large Clearwave Speakers I heard too and those are the top of the line RAAL tweeters.

I totally agree with you guys on matching things. It's the same way with my Vandersteen Treo's or my for sale Proac speakers....or anything else out there. I've always realized who important electronics are. Most don't get it. They just think it's the speakers, but everything is so important. The thing is that if I hear something set up at a dealer it should be sounding close to it's best. How can they sell if it isn't? Should it sound better in your home? Hopefully, unless they have special rooms set up etc... Some do and some don't. I was at Audio Connections a few months ago and John had the newer Maggies set up with Ayre gear (the smaller panels) and I was amazed. They really did sound great for their price and size. They had a sub with them and I usually hate subs, but it integrated well. John knows how to set things up and sell them too. That said, as soon as we set up the Vandersteen 2's with the same gear it sounded better to me overall. Just more musical and cleaner. I think sometimes the back wave of the panels somehow smear things for me at times. I'm just very sensitive to something that others aren't. I have found many many speakers that are loved and raved about fatiguing. I'm also sensitive to phase and have found that many folks systems are out of phase and it's an easy fix. Again, there is a reason there are so many choices....I fully respect that others hear things differently than I do and visa versa. That's why I love hearing folks thoughts on components. Thanks.