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 don't own this pair....JBL 4343s'S studio monitors. A seller of some used audio was letting me audition a used amp when I heard the JBLs. I haven't heard anything like them before or since. They were big and they were ugly, but they had the best highs and lows and mids I've heard together in one package. They were relegated to the basement due to thier appearance (Wife Factor)
I have heard many speakers and keep coming back to my 1980s Cabasse MT type speakers. I think they were the equivalent of the Cabasse Skiff that came out a few years later, but don't know what their equivalent (if any) would be these days. Great detail, incredible soundstage.
Genesis 201's are it. These big speakers literally disappear as sources. They throw the widest stage I ever heard images totally outside the edges of speakers. The wall behind the speakers and side walls disappear with these speakers like no others I have heard before. The speakers are very quick on transients and never sound stressed even when playing extremely demanding pieces with very complex arrangements all the different parts remaining distinctly separate from each other. The bass is absolutely unbelievable when the recording asks for it to be. The air in my 20x23 room actually shuddered along with the entire structure of the room like their was an earthquake happening. Very defined and quick also. I thought I owned excellent subwoofers before but these are in a different league.