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
LOOK AT THE REPLIES !!!

The title should be : The best speakers you have ever seen "

Most are focusing on looks rather than sounds.
The best speaker I have ever heard is the Dukane Ionovac plasma speaker. A horn speaker that will cover from 3.5K to likely 50K plus. Some venture to say possibly 100k with very low distortion. Until you have heard one it is hard to describe. I have heard one on the Aerial 10T and the Nestorovic 5AS MK IV Signature, and the sound blew me away. Nothing at the audio show impressed me as much. They do not use conical horns the way current plasma horns are produced today. They use compound diffractional horns and radiate about 165 degrees so the air and space is all over the room. No head in a vice needed. I have had Maggies, great ribbon tweeter, but nowhere close. The MBL also is very nice, still not this good. For those of you who have not heard one, you may get your chance if you go to RMAF. I hear through the grapevine that Jim of Vaughn Loudspeakers will be offering a speaker which will be be built for those who want a speaker to put their tweeters in. These are a must hear. Supposedly, he will have a Dukane Ionovac plasma setup there with one of his speakers. Get to either RMAF or Newport if he shows there. His speaker will be worth the trip. Only problem will be if you don't already have a pair of the tweeters..... Jallen
I was recently out speaker shopping with my father and he was interested in a brand known as "Golden Ear". He had read about them in his two stereo magazine subscriptions and was looking to replace his old Kef's. Anyway the speakers were called Triton 2 and they retailed for $3000/pr. They were very clear and with the built-in amped subs, a subwoofer is barely needed with these. My father demo'd these just with a denon receiver (125 watts each) and they sounded quite good for the money. My personal favorite is still the Paradigm Signature 8, though!
Analysis Audio ,The best I have heard ! I have not heard all the top dogs ,but they impressed me . They dont seem to have a lot of dealers in the states.