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
Speaker:
Wilson Watt Puppy 7s

System:
Ayre V-5xe Amplifier
Ayre K-5xe Preamplifier
Ayre C-5xe Universal Stereo Disc Player

This combination of equipment has been the best combination I have heard to date. I don't have extensive experience with equipment way past its price range, but it is better than systems I have heard that were twice the price component wise, including one system I heard at Harvey Electronics that the salesman claimed was a $150,000+ (USD), which was in their Home Theatre showcase room. It was so real and 3 Dimensional sounding I knew I was screwed the minute I heard the first song start to play on it, and have started saving up to buy all the components in the next year starting with the Ayre C-5xe which I already purchased. It isn't even that bad a price considering how great it sounded and how much better it sounded compared to the stuff I heard around my area that costs twice the price and then some.

I do think component matching with speakers has to be crucial, because I have heard these speakers with other equipment, and while they still sounded incredible, they didn't sound as stunning as they did with the Ayre gear. I felt like I was sitting in the studio hanging out with the band I was listening to while they were playing.

I'm not sure what cables they were using.
Zu Definition 1.5. No crossover between 40 HZ and 12Khz provides impeccable phase coherence where it matters. Speaker is solid and implacable to 16 Hz because of 4 ten inch powered woofers per speaker. This may sound gimmicky to you but I assure that it is the result of original, substantial and considered engineering. Add in a nearly resistive 6 ohm load and 101 db efficiency and you are approaching the ideal. Check em out.
The Legacy Whispers with Legacy subs, driven by VTL pre/amp combo. Source was an SME table and arm but not sure which one. I wont stop until I can get close to the beautiful music I heard that afternoon.
Revel Salon driven by Levinson gear at a dealer in NYC a few years ago. With the prices of used Salon's getting more and more resonable it sure is tempting......but I'm pretty impressed with the sound that I'm now getting with my Energy V2.4i's and Talon Roc2002 sub. Funny how once you have a kid, the gear you already have starts to sound really nice.