The best speaker you ever heard?

if there is no best, because "best" does not exist in audio, then, i suppose...

Suppose if MrTennis posts his views but no one reads them, do the views exist?

i thot before i entered the room that a woman was singing via a mic or maybe very loudly a capella. then i saw it was speakers, i walked all around the room and the sound field was so realistic i wanted them on the spot

Other speakers will do this. ATC for sure, but also many other speakers designed with as much care for the off axis response as for the typical flat on axis only designs. It is a shame but most people ignore off-axis response even if it is well proven to be a cornerstone to natural sounding speakers. Manufacturers know this and respond by concentrating on designs that have more extension (great highs and lows) - after all that is what sells.

The stuff coming out of Dr. Floyd Toole's work in the 70's => Energy Vertias 1.8, PSB, and Mirage are worth checking out.

On the whole during the 80's, there was a lot more attention to off axis response as opposed to the modern emphasis, which has migrated to bass extension and super-tweeters flat on axis to bat-only audibile frequencies...stuff that is only important on paper or in "my speaker freq response beats your speaker" threads. The midrange has been sadly forgotten in the battle of highs and extreme lows. Check out 80's designs - some are still made today - much the same as they were back then...

That does exist, however you need to have a very good complete set and a perfect - if there is such a thing - room. I think you can have that with different speakers, but so far I've only heard that in two rooms ever in my life. One of them is mine.

You must be one happy camper. I am a firm believer in the room. What acoustic treatments were necessary to achieve that perfect room?