The best speaker you ever heard?

I have to update my answer from the MBL 101 Extreme to the Rockport Altair. I heard the Altair at the Sound Environment in Omaha, Nebraska. They did things that I couldn't believe were possible. I have never heard their equal.

Mot

I've never heard speakers over 50k that sounded that much better than many under that price point. WIsh I had a dealer that had some of the esoteric speakers on display locally.

The best speakers I've ever heard are the Sonus Faber Aida. I have heard a couple pairs of speakers that are significantly more expensive that I didn't enjoy as much, although the Aida is certainly up there in price. The Aidas seemed to me to have a slight bit of warmth to them, but are still extremely detailed in a way that struck me as very natural and musical. For me, they have all the qualities I'd ever want in a pair of speakers if I lived in a world where I could afford them. I haven't heard anything I've liked better so far.

Ctsooner, I think we all wish we had access to dealers with speakers that interest us, but alas they are no more at least in most areas of the country. Even with Austin and Houston within a 100 mile radius of me, I don't have this.

Even when there were dealers, there were very few speaker manufacturers allowing me to even get to hear the Infinity ServoStatics in Tallahassee Florida.

Beveridge model X-1 with bass towers, and close the Infinity IRS in a very large room, which I preferred over the big Genesis. I also liked the early Magnaplaner speakers, the Tympani, then I was more impressed back in the early days.