The best speaker you ever heard?

Focal JMlab Grande Utopia Be, nothing comes close, period. I listened to those in Paris not so long ago. I have the Nautilus 801, quite nice, but these are another experience, and price of course. All the other Focal-JMLab are outstanding for their quality vs. price. Wilsons use focal speakers anyway. And correct that you need the right electronics and cables to drive them. (I would vote for the top Moons from Simaudio and Siltech cables). Find any of the Focal-JMlab Be series to listen to, compare them with your favorites (equivalent),and you will hear the difference.

I second the Quad ESL 63...NO sub woofers can keep up with these speakers,the seaming is just to ignoring so keep the panels pure...the 989 is more balance but not as transparent as the older 63's.....

Best commercial speakers I've heard are the S.A.P. J2001 (with twin 12" woofers), which is why I purchased them. These speakers have a small Onken cabinet for the woofers, a horn midrange that is poised on top of the woofer cabinet, and a Fostex bullet tweeter.

I also like Soundlab U-1s. I've also heard some pretty wild custom systems, one in particular comes to mind. It had a pair of huge Western Electric horns for the midrange that have a throat that is curled like a ram's horn. The owner of this system just set up a new system in a huge dedicated room and uses a pair of $250,000 Gaku-On amps to drive the midrange. I have yet to hear this latest iteration, but I expect it to be something special.

Well,I had the Artemis Eos for 5 years and just upgraded to the new JM Labs Utopia Alto Be.If more high end people knew about the Be tweeter.Everytime I hear it it remindes me of my very first indroduction into the the society of people who are no longer virgins.Peace,Jim

Vandersteen 5a's. Sublime. With multiple Vandersteen 2wq subwoofers and a lot of moneys worth of electronics and cables, simply brings you to tears.