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 was in HONG KONG. heard a pair of {uno 2.0s) driven by a pair of cary 805s thought it was great till the guy hooked up those small (laugh) 5 watt Audio Notes. unreall
I'd have said the Sound Lab M-1's, but then a few weeks ago I heard the U-1's. I'm a dealer so take it with a grain of salt, but there is no other product line in audio that I would rather represent.
I still love my Soundlab Ultimate 1. This pair is from the very first ever production run, and must be six years old now. They are still the only piece of audio gear that I never consider changing. What evolution that has occurred in the construction of this speaker is available from the factory for a very reasonable price. Not often mentioned, the design of the Soundlab makes it nearly impossible to damage them, even with ultra high powered amps. I have heard my speakers deliver realistic sound pressure levels with a 21 watt per channel SET, and yet 650 watts per channel will not damage them. The ultimate strength of the U-1 is its ability to present music without any sense of distortion or smearing. Every instrument, even when playing "full out" behind a human voice, will paint a solid image in every detail, with absolutely no phase shift, regardless of volume. The U-1 is the only true FULL range speaker that does not employ a multiple driver and multiple crossover design. It is physically impossible to get a multiple driver system to divide frequencies, then precisely start and stop every element at the same exact millisecond. Multiple drivers represent vast differences not only in their physical size and weight, but also their resistance to the air pressure in the cabinet and the listening room. The single element in a Soundlab is perfectly time and phase aligned, the element is equally exposed (no cabinet) to the listening room on both sides, has a single driver mass equal to 3 mm of compressed air, and equal resistance and speed in every frequency. The easy way to prove this is to listen, the human ear is extremely sensitive to these types of distortion. Once you hear the purity, speed and space of the original music presented in your own room, it is hard to go back.
the avalon sentinels. they do everything my eidolons do an order of magnitude better. they present exquisite mid's, extended but non-fatiguing highs and bass that you can feel, as well as hear. most importantly, these dynamic speakers, like the eidolons, do what no electrostat yet made has ever done ( with all due respect to roger west and albertporter): they disappear and present a correctly-sized and spaced image of every instrument and voice recorded on the source medium. unfortunately, they are exceedingly dear and require a sound room with a huge volume. fortunately, my room is too small to let em' shine. yeah, like i could affordem', anyway! good hunting. -kelly
I don't know what the best speaker is. However, I sure like the way my Ohm Walsh 300's sound. The only possession I own that I value more is my paratrooper Israeli Galil.