The best speaker you ever heard?

As I mentioned before, the Infinity IRS-V's are the best sounding speakers i've ever heard, though in many ways my current Magico S5's are better. The S5's don't have the dynamic headroom of the Infinity's, nor the 3d imaging or off-axis performance...however they are more resolving of inner detail from the low bass region to lower mids, they have more texture and body the IRS & more seamless and coherent. There is also a greater quality to the sound which is to be expected given the S5's superior drivers, crossover, cabinet & internal wiring. And the S5 is more room friendly with placement. So it depends on how you define "best".

As I mentioned before, the Infinity IRS-V's are the best sounding speakers i've ever heard, though in many ways my current Magico S5's are better. The S5's don't have the dynamic headroom of the Infinity's, nor the 3d imaging or off-axis performance, however they are more resolving of inner detail from the low bass region to lower mids, they have more texture and body than the fives & are more seamless and coherent. There is also a greater quality to the sound which is to be expected given the S5's superior drivers, crossover, cabinet & internal wiring. The S5 is also more room friendly in terms of placement. So it depends on how you define "best".

CT
I have not heard them w new amp...but that is probably the long term plan.
Have an Ayre VX-R non 20..will see how it does..I am confident in my room and habits it will be fine...if I do upgrade will likely top out w that. No upgrade if I go w Richards amp..
Cables are all AQ: Eagle Eye, Niagara, Sky, and Type 6 in a true shotgun bi wire.

Am I the only person who doesn't "get" Magico speakers. I have heard them in a number of top flight systems, with Dartzeel and Constellation amplification amongst others. Dynamic, neutral, transparent, yes, yes and yes, but just to dry and sterile for my tastes. I am sure it is a defect in my ears and character, not to think Magico are unbeatable, but I suppose it takes all sorts of enthusiasts in our hobby/obsession.

The best I have heard and it suprises me to say so, is the Wilson Alexias. I have never liked Wilson, until I heard them with sympathetic amplification, in the first instance, ARC tube amps. The best though, was the Alexias with D'Agostino pre and Monoblocks, just magical. In fact I couldn't really find any fault in the system, except the insane cost. Almost as good at a mad, rather than insane costs, was the same room and speakers with the Dartzeel integrated amp

David, i'm not sure which Magico speakers you've heard, but from your description it sounds like you've heard Q series speakers which do lean in that direction, and with poor amp choices for synergy imho. The S series are warmer and more full bodied sounding speakers. They should still be matched with warm, tube-like ss amps or powerful tube amps for best synergy, but because the S5's for example are warmer sounding than the Q series, Vitus Signature series (ss) amps a perfect match imho. With that said, Magico are not unbeatable because audio is completely subjective. We all (literally) hear things differently, so the old adage "One man's trash is another man's treasure" holds true.

As an example, I heard the Alexia's in a treated listening room with top range ARC amps and was underwhelmed. The bass was slow and flabby, they were not as coherent or well balanced as S5, and are not as warm, full bodied or intimate sounding. Sound stage depth was good though. The Alexia's have airy mids and highs, though I didn't equate that with greater accuracy. The S5s are definitely more accurate and have better image specificity. Another punter might walk out of the same room with a completely different view. Incidentally, I heard the Alexia's with D'agostino mono's & a full DCS Vivaldi stack. It was a better demo, but the sound was fatiguing and walked out of that room after 20 minutes.