The best speaker you ever heard?

this is a difficult question to answer, because it depends upon the amp-speaker interaction.

i would say the best driver type is a ribbon, electrostat or planar magnetic.

Focal utopia maestro.

Jas Audio Plato. They just bring a lot of energy in to the music, and give the sound a bit of nerve. Well it took only one demo, and a week later a brand new set where shipped to my home.

I absolutely agree with MRTENNIS being a speaker collector. I've tried piezo electric,domes, waveguides, horns etc. but the ribbons, planars and electrostats which I also own are much cleaner than other types of transducers. I hope people get a change to experience the sound of ESS HEILS being used as your high/mid transducer. It is crystal clear with the right kind of gear more so then any other transducer I have heard. The other if you can find it is the add on JANSZEN Z-130 the last model made and the eminent technology. Some ribbon designs are better than others, the same with electrostats, you just have to find a design that suits your equipment. Some of the discontinued or defunct manufacturers made some great transducers but misfortune is the sad part of audio when companies who contribute no longer exist.

In my first real component audio system, I had a pair of Lafayette Criterion short floorstanders with HEil tweeter in an all Lafayette system built around a 40 watt integrated (I worked at Lafayette at the time as a poor college kid and got a good deal).

They were my favorites from lafayette at that time due to the unique clarity of the heil, but teh rest was questionable. Also, the heils had a tendency to fry quite easily in that rig. I changed everything less than a year later.

I would like to hear a good modern heil design running off my current system. What I heard back then was probably not indicative of what is possible.