The best speaker you ever heard?

Source IS the most important part of a system but a system is still a collection of all its parts. It is NOT true that the system is only as good as its weakest link. The weakest link is only the smartest place to spend money. Once the source is pretty darn good then other things including the speakers will make big differences even though a better source will always make a big difference. The problem is that most people can't listen to original master tapes which stomp any table or CD I have heard.

"Source is key" is not entirely accurate. Firstly, the originator of this thread stated that the speakers were most important, in his "OPINION."

Secondly, there is obviously a MUCH bigger difference between the top-end and bottom-end quality of speakers and the top and bottom quality of say, CD players. Now let's say the amp being a constant, take the best CD player in the world, and match it with some awful speakers ... paper-coned, single-driver, tweeterless crap ... it will sound awful. You would never know that there was a great CD player, or maybe amp, behind them.

Now take the worst CD player in the world and match it with amazing speakers, and it will sttll sound pretty good. WAY better than the 1st scenario. You would know that the speakers were of at least some quality. This is because there is less of a gap between the best and worst CD players than there is between the best and worst speakers. This does not mean that I want to argue that the source is less important, but one could argue that since a $50 CD player with $5,000 speakers sounds better than a $5,000 CD player with $50 speakers, the speakers are the more important component to get right. Now I don't mean to start a flame war here... I have heard the difference in cables, amps, cd players, and turntables ... it's all true and I know it to be first-hand, but all things being equal, speakers are more variable and make a bigger difference, "in my opinion."

With respect to the above, I think many good points are made. Source components are very important. I lack the expertise to appropriately prioritize the links in the signal chain (that's what people like Duane are for, and why I didn't just blindly assemble my system from the internet). However, my opinion is that it's necessary to have a system containing no glaringly weak parts if one seeks the best possible sound for the money. So as a practical matter, component matching and system synergy become the key ingredients. For example, in my system, the Summits sound their very best only when they have the Dodson 217 Mark II D (with its upgraded 218-like software) in the chain. Even though they are a rather efficient speaker at something like 89, 90 or 91 dB, they STILL sound way, way better when driven by an outstanding amplifier, such as the Odyssey Extreme monoblocks which have a lot of power (I reviewed them under "Amplifiers). The amplification power and current are PARTICULARLY important in extracting the best bass response from a loudspeaker. That was true for the Paradigms (also very efficient but still loving the Odyssey power and current) and it is also true for the Summits.

As a practical matter, it becomes almost irrelevant anyway which piece in the system matters "most". They all need to be good.

As a follow-up to my prior post to this thread on 11/12/05, I have now posted the review of the Intuitive Design Summit PSL 624 loudspeakers I'd mentioned, and it is under "Product Reviews" in the "Speakers" category.

The best I've heard were the Maggie 3.6's. I know they have a 20.1 which is better, but I've never heard it. They were set up in a dedicated room with high end solid state AR equipment. The room was about 30' X 25'. They had the rear wall and all corners treated with sound absorbers. The speakers were set about 10' into the room, about 6' apart facing straight ahead with no toe-in, allot of room to the sides. The listening poition was half way from the front of the speakers to the rear wall, approximately 10' from the speakers. I've been into this hobby for almost 30 years and have listened to many set-up's through the years, but nothing compared to this. A huge deep soundstage, detail galore, imaging like I had never heard before. I went to this store to audtion some Dynaudio's and brought along several disk I was familiar with. Couldn't believe how good every disk sounded. Just incredible.

Mapleleafs3 said:

" I've heard $10,000 speakers fed by a lousy source sound like crap"

Won't a $10,000 source make lousy speakers sound like crap also? You don't have those "White Van" speakers do ya?

Just kidding...I know what your saying, although...IMO, any weak link is a weak link... in the BIG picture.

Dave