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 have heard several brands high end speakers, but not all. I am not an expert on loudspeakers, but since the question is what are the best speakers I have heard, I have to say they are: McIntosh XR290. They have been in my system for 14 years now and I have never lost the love. Why fix what's not broken?
Magnepan MG 3.6R's (09 edition with new crossovers). If you truly know music, there is no other speaker for you. They will unleash your inner audiophile like no other and let the music flow over you like the Holy waters from the audio God's:O )
Hard to say since there is no one "ideal" speaker around.
Vivid "Giya' comes close. In addition I would list speakers I love for the "close to the real sound" quality they all have (in some cases it had to be together with the electronics used at the moment),starting with the more expensive and going down:
MBL 101, Original B&W Nautilus, Wilson Benesch "Chimera", Vandersteen 5A Sign. Some Sound Labs should be added as well.
For the "small" speakers it is Sonus Faber "Extrema", Wilson Benesch "Discovery", B&W Silver Sign.
Paul Hale's Hales Design Group Transcendence 8, powereed by Boulder equipment. Of course I'm a bit biased as we all are in that this is my current system, but honestly I have never heard another speaker this transparent ever. Between it, the Boulder power and preamp, and the Meridian front end, if you put music in, music will come out gloriously. Unfortunately, on the other hand, if you put garbage in, well....