What is the "design" of the "ULTIMATE" loudspeaker

Maybe the better question would be, "are the huge ultimate speaker systems mentioned really that much more convincing than the best $20k-$30k systems?"

I think the ultimate system would only have two drivers. A woofer and a tweeter. I beleive multiple drivers create to much phase distortion with is timeing errors because of the varying distances of the individual drivers from your ears.

For the same reason the ultimate speaker would have the tweeter in the center of the woofer. Of course with current technology this creates its own problems.

In my opinion,

The less complicated, the better. My favorite are the Magnepan 3 ways (3.3R, 3.5R, 3.6R). When you go to a 4 way or more driver scheme, the crossover is more difficult & expensive to implement. Speakers are just like power amps,
more drivers (& more output transistors) no matter how closely matched to a tolerance, are going to still deviate from each other more than less drivers & less output transistors.
A classic example of this philosophy are the Sound Lab speakers & the Martin Logan CLS - just one big diaphragm & no multi way crossover. Another example are the audiophiles who swear by two-way monitors, they can image fantastically when set up well.
I myself prefer the Magnepan because of that 6' tall ribbon. It is very detailed, yet forgiving.
I've personally heard the WAMMs & MAXes, for high SPL rock they are impressive-they can drive you from the room. I just find them too fatiguing to listen to for very long.

Danielk141: While I am a huge Magnepan fan and love the sound, the speakers you mention do not reproduce the "event" properly. Tonally they are wonderfull and very seductive, however, when it comes to convey the "dynamic energy" and extreme bass reproduction, they fall short when compared to any of the speakers mentioned.

I personally would give up a bit of dynamics for purity and cohesiveness, but, in this thread, I am perceiving we make no sacrifice.

Dan D'Agostino has written a "white paper" on how to make some minor adjustement to the B&W800's so that they can be actively bi-amped with his custom KBX electronic crossover.

He once called them "the best speaker on the planet." ................. I agree!

Richard