What are the best speakers you have ever owned and why?


I just recently recieved my long awaited Shahinian Diapason 2’s from Vasken And they are absolutely spectacular! This got me thinking about my long journey to get here. Bless my wife for putting up with the many many many speakers that have passed through. The lifelong saga began with Magneoan MG 1’s back in college which were replaced by Dahlquist DQ 10’s. Then we traveled down a long road of speakers and systems. Magnepan Tympanis, Misson 770, Randall Rsch DQ10’s, Quad ESL single and stacked, Acoustat II, rogers LS3/5A’s, Linn Isobarik’s (2 pairs) B&W 801 Matrix, Hales Signature, Martin Logan Monolith2, Apogee Scintilla (1 ohm) Apogee Full Range, Theil SC 5A, Egglestonworks Andra, B&W Nautilius 801,Quad 63 and some I’m sure I forgot! Each speaker had its virtues and flaws but oh what a fun and a times frustrating trek! I think I have finally found my speaker to take me to retirement they do everything that I value wonderfully . They are detailed without sounding so, very dynamic, they have great low end reach, power and detail, are open sounding like a planner, their tonality and timbre seem spot on and they sound wonderful on any kind of music. Tell me about your journey!
hamr
@prof1Now your're talkin'!  This is exactly what we did and even though the sounds produced by amplified instruments were controlled by the musician, the sound live and the sound recorded was compared and found either lacking, changed for the worse, changed for the better, or pretty much identical.  Non-amplified instruments sound differently depending upon mic placement, of course, but in a recording, as you know, one is trying to capture the ensemble as heard mid-far center, so it can be a challenge.  Obviously in a studio, one has elaborate mixing equipment to end up with the dynamic range and mix per instrument on the final recording, but just using a Stellavox and a couple of good mics, our Miami dealer, Peter, was able to do some pretty impressive live recordings back in the day.

Keep doing what you are doing, go down to your dealer and listen to a pair of Maggies--the new ones are all over the place with the number of panels, etc. (I personally prefer multiple panels per side) but make your own decisions.

Finally, funny how all high-end speaker manufacturers are now making 6' tall speakers all of a sudden.  I WONDER where they got that idea???

Cheers!
Back in the late 70's I started with a pair of McIntosh XR-16's which I kept far too long. Finally got back into the audio system game and bought a pair of Paradigm Studio 100's that are actually very nice sounding with quality electronics behind them. I then moved up to Legacy Audio Focus which I have been in my system for a while now. Recently, I started reading about open baffle designs and just ordered a pair of Spatial Audio M3 S Turbo's. It's a big leap from the Legacy's with their three 12" woofers to an open baffle speaker but everything I have read indicates they should be very open with a large soundstage. Can't wait until they arrive!
Audio Note AN-E SEC Silver. I bought these used 15 years ago and have been extremely happy with them for my favorite type of listening.  I think they shine best on mid-range stuff, like vocals, sax, acoustic guitar, etc.  Sinatra's voice sounds amazing on them; round, full, live, emotive.  Also acoustic bluegrass, chamber music, and jazz are wonderful.  Every string pluck is distinguished and every blend is smooth.  Probably not my favorite for hard-hitting electric rock or full orchestra, but I've never heard a speaker that did everything well.  Horns probably come closest. 
Favorite Speakers - BOZAK  Symphony's 1969-1994. Still miss them.

Favorite 2018-2019 - Harbeth HL5Plus

Have also had AR ?, B&W 803's.

Wish List - Harbeth 40.2 Anniversary
I have to go with richopp69. While I remember DQ-10s sounding clear years ago, nothing, not even $50,000 speakers come close to Magnepans. 0.7s are my favorites because they are simple two way speakers and I do not trust pure ribbon tweeters because they are too delicate. It does take a few weeks to position them right but they are easy to move and to experiment with pillows duck-taped to walls and floor to find out you probably do not need much if any acoustic treatment.
Box speakers and the braces to diminish the cabinets adding to the sound is what Jack Northrup called inventing a rubber glove to solve the problem of writing with a leaky fountain pen. I also am not crazy about the notch filters and the crazy gradients of impedance with respect to frequency of cone speakers.