The best speaker you ever heard?


In my opinion, the speaker is by far the most important part of the audio system. After all, it is the only part you hear. OK, the other stuff really matters a lot, but without a great speaker... No go.

I am a bit 'speaker-obsessed' I guess, and now I am wondering: What are the best speakers you have ever heard, and what made them the best?
njonker
Martin Logan Grand Slamm.I heard when they first came out at a Stereophile Show. I think at the time they cost $70,000.00 a pair.They had a pair of these huge woofer towers with 6 12 inch drivers as well.Amazing transparency,speed and slamm.
ATC active 100's. Can any passive speaker equal active speaker technology? It's been almost 3 years - still the best speaker I've heard.
Avantgarde DUO's make every other speaker on the market (with the exception of Avantgarde TRIO's) sound slow, inertial and as if they are covered by a feather quilt.

The best sound you can buy without a doubt.

It just shows that the Audio industry took a wrong turn 50 years ago. Inefficient speakers with huge crossovers that eat detail, powered by huge distorted amps that that make hundreds of watts but sound bad. "If the first watt doesn't sound good it doesn't matter how many more watts there are". Stick to Single Ended Triode tube power amps and DUO speakers.

Don't listen to a "speaker" or a "stereo", listen to a holographic three-dimensional re-creation of Miles Davis or Stan Getz standing three feet in front of you with DUO's & tubes.
Tbg: I heard them at Audio Federation in Boulder, CO. I've actually now spent many hours listening to them with 3 different amps (Edge Signature something, Audio Note UK Kegon, Lamm ML2.1). As much as I'm a Lamm fan (and owner), the Kegons are just magical amps. Before I heard the Triolons, it was my opinion that the law of diminishing returns hit hard not far into the 5 figure range. Now I know, at least in one case, that you really do get what you pay for with top end gear. Of course, the Trolons may just be the exception, I still haven't heard anything else on the extreme high end that is really *that* much better than the good stuff you can get for 15-25k.
Tbg & Steve01s4,

You fellas are troublemakers. Now I have to hunt down these speakers out of curiosity.

I have a pair of Audionote UK Kageki amps (similar to Kegons, but utilizing 2a3s instead of 300Bs). I have not heard the Kegons, but, I will venture to say that you should also hear the Gaku-On (powerful, 211 based amps with a warm tonal balance), and the quite different sounding Sogon (very fast, extended on top and leaner sounding than the Gaku-On). My Kagekis are closer to the Sogon camp.