The best speaker you ever heard?

Only one pair has ever stood out through the years for me and left a lasting impression. Sonus Faber extremas. Massive soundstage from pint sized cabs which really did bass well, genuinely well. This from when Sonus were really Sonus and engineered speakers uniquely.
They weren't the fashion victim marketing led curvaceous eye-candy of today, which I suspect is responsible for more of their sales than how they actually sound.

The Exremas impressed with their transient speed, their lovely voicing (no pipe and slippers there), holographic like imaging and large soundstage. They really were capable of disappearing and leaving a musical stage of large proportions in front of you. Worked really well near field too.

I now design loudspeakers for a living but would still love to have a pair of Sonus Fabers Extremas on my audio bucket list.

Doesn’t the “best we’ve heard” depend heavily on when we heard it? When it is outside our control and comparison. When there is some sea change in our assumptions and perceptions where words fail us. For me, it was a pair of KLH Model 5’s driven by a stack of McIntosh tubes. I was just walking down the mall, passed by the storefront, and was captured by a tractor beam, unable to resist the pull. A similar experience came with Apogee Stages driven by the original VAC PA-90’s. I’m sure there were better, just as there are prettier girls, but love is a unique and wonderful response.

JBL 4319, custom tuned by Keyeso Nigurava.
Real wood, Asymmetrical ports diameter, 27Hz - 40Khz, 92.5db.
Internal wiring, Cardas Gold. Listened accompanied with the Pathos InPol amplifier.

I did enjoy the largest Apogees back in the day. My dealer then LOVED them and made sure they had their own room and the highest end ARC ref gear with MIT cables 'tuned' for the system by Bruce Brisson himself. They were pretty darn good from what I remember.

I too loved those Extrema's. I haven't heard the new ones but I don't love the new Sonus speakers. I just loved the sound of their older speakers back in the day and they look was WOW.....

Jump on Radio Shack before they go out of business.