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
My friend just got a pair of SASS "prototype" speakers from a someone who sells on eBay. They are large bookshelf sized. The company reportedly makes speaker for large music halls. Amazing sound. Has anyone heard of this company?
Orion speakers (made either by a kit or by Wood Artistry in California). These speakers were designed by Dr. Sigfried Linkwitz, a former HP engineer, and are an open baffle design. I have listened to them for quite some time now and have not experienced the level of depth and clarity in any other speaker system. Music is my passion and I have listened to a great deal of live concerts; the Orions come closest to realizing the true concert experience.
Past experience leads me to question whether you can separate the performance of the amplifier driving the speaker from the speaker. Case in point, the substitution of the balanced Audio Note Kegons for a pair of Parasound JC-1's has led me to re-evaluate how good the speakers are.