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'm not sure about what you mean by best, given the interface between the amp cables and speaker. i own quads and a two piece system by paragon (reminicient of the verity parsifal). the best system i have ever "heard" was a pair of theil 4's powered by threshold playing a lp in a display room of a high end shop in berkley california (in 1980's). the record was called "depth of image" by opus 3. it was a small ensemble and, i kid you not, was so third dimensional that you felt you could walk in amoungst the players and participate! i'm not talking about the heighth, width, height descriptions we usually hear. this was far more like the audio counterpart of 3d movies. i've had better equipment by far but have never recreated this "hearing" experience.
Legacy Whispers. I have auditioned B&Ws, Dunlavys, Martin-Logans, Vandersteens, Revels, just to name a few. All great speakers, but for the money and incredible performance, I'll take my Whispers over them all.