The best speaker you ever heard?

Aronsss, I have known Richard Vandersteen since the '70s. I ran into him at the 2010 CES, and he said that I needed to go hear the 7s. This year, I had a long talk with him. He said that in the 7's he had put his cost no object best he knew of in them. He said he was surprised at how well they were sounding. I told him I was not, that they were by far his best speakers.

I have owned virtually every speaker he has made but have none now. I do have the Tidal Contriva Diacera SEs and would love to hear the Vandersteen 7s directly compared with them. But alas I probably never will get this opportunity.

the Evans Model One but this Model One with no crossover and full range is just spectacular

This has been my experience as well. Tom Evans uses a Jordan JX-92S driver? IMHO there are even better options than the Jordan.

Aronsss, I heard the Vandersteen 5A several years ago and came to the conclusion the 5A was one of the best speakers I have heard. The only significant weakness compared to the Soundlab(A3) and large Infinity Reference Models(Sigma-Beta)was soundstage height. If the 7 is an all around impovement of the 5A, it is without a doubt one of the best loudspeakers regardless of $$$.

Dayglow, the 7s sound unlike the 5As and are clearly better.

Harbeth SHL-5 The utmost speaker for music lovers, period.