The best speaker you ever heard?

Vandersteen 5A's. Actually, the whole Vandersteen line gives you much more for your money than others, but the 5A's set up properly are real killers. Read the literature and you'll know why, but listen to them and you will understand

Hi again Rockadanny,
I totally agree with your last sentence. But us hi-fi purists' all want 'clarity and musicality' from our chosen genres, thats why we spend so much money on trying to get it to enable us to reach our hi-fi 'nirvana'. All cd/lp's when played should have 'clarity and musicality' when the system is balanced, otherwise we have wasted our hard earned dollars and have to spend more time pacifying our other halfs when we need to buy the next piece of super duper/must have/can't live without it/ piece of equipment (usually expensive and a bit tricky hiding speakers that are 6' tall) lol. I still maintain IMHO that there is no such thing as a duff recording, only a bad system that can't make clarity and musicality out of the said recording.
The simplest (and cheapest) solution to all our angst is to buy a cheap portable $100+ from Walmutt.
keep it live.

For all you guys crying "Watt/Puppy!", I have to ask if you've heard the Hyperion 938s? I have them and I doubt that they're the best speakers in the world but they are pretty damn good. Are the reviewers who've said they're better (or as good as) the Puppys at 1/5th the cost all wet?

I have spoken to several people who have considered the Puppys to be far overpriced for what they do. FWIW.

I have spoken to several people who have considered the Puppys to be far overpriced for what they do. FWIW.

You can always find people to confirm any opinion, and they'll virtually line up to disparage a successful product or company. I suspect you'll find many 938 owners comparing their speakers to the WPs, but few (if any) WP owners replacing them with 938s because of the same claim. Other than the obvious aesthetic mimicry, the 938 does not compare the WP, at least not to the WP7 or WP8. Not even in the same ballpark, IMO.

Back to the previously scheduled program...

Wilson sure spends oodles on advertising. Good for them. Personally, I find their ads to be very dull/ ho hum. I'd shop around for a different firm/different approach. I have not heard the Wilson 8s, but if they are anything like their others? Just not wild about their sound. I know of a Wilson Alexandria owner, and a Maxx owner, as well, who (way lower in price) who made the switch and was very happy. Just a little fwiw.