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
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.
A pair, or even stacked DQ10's. Properly driven and modified these speakers are awesome - the most musical speaker ever. They are exremely revealing and many perceived weaknesses go back to other sources. Work with these a while ansd speaker shopping ends. They really are wonderful. I have heard many larger and more expensive systems but none make me want to give up my 10's.
Too bad John Dahlquist isn't still at the helm.