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
I heard the big JBL $100,000 speakers playing with Viva electronics.To say it was great would be an understatement
For 'just the right music', Quad ESL-57's still seem to represent the bar for me. The most impressive speaker(s) I ever SAW (never heard - boo-hoo) were probably a setup which saw a pair of 57's in monstrous oak stands (marked Mark Levinson). Each channel was a pair (ie. 4 Quads total) and could be tilted on an axis. They were floor to ceiling, stored at the edge of a room featuring Magnepan Tympani TI-Ds and enough Audio Research gear to sink a ship. Ahhh, memories....