The best speaker you ever heard?

I just got back from CES where Quad Classics had a double pair of stacked Quad ESL 57s from their new production. It made me wonder why I had sold my double Quads. They had one of the best sounds at CES.

Von Schweikert VR5-HSE. I've had mine almost five months and have not once missed my daily listening session. Truly amazing.

While i thought that the Pipe Dreams had some very distinct advantages over other large designs that i've heard, i thought that the soundstage lacked depth. The imaging that was produced was rock solid, but it all seemed to come from a few feet in front of the speakers. I've noticed this on a few other line arrays, so it is probably a problem that comes with that type of design. If you are in a big, long room, the Pipe Dreams can "throw" sound much further than more conventional designs due to the fact that the sound does not "fall off" nearly as fast due to the geometry of the drivers. As such, they really DO play louder than most designs if you are away from the speakers. As i mentioned above though, every design has trade-off's and flaws and this one is no exception. Sean
>

Quad 988's were very impressive in the 1/2 hour I listened to them. I'd go with the Shahinian Diapasons for the overall best with the Quad 988 best for lower level listening. Both of these speakers try to emmulate a point source. Both of these speakers are the best I've heard in terms of ability to recreate the sound of real musical instruments.

Piega C10ltd New ribbon technology with 2 active and 2 passive woofers