I measure 'best' by how long I stay glued in front of them, especially at a trade show or in a store. By that (admittedly subjective) gauge, my 'best' auditions over the past few years have been
- MBL 101E, properly set up and driven by top of the line MBL hardware. I have had a soft spot for what these omni-directional beasts can do for a long time
- TAD Reference One

Martin Logan's new Renaissance ESL 15A Electrostatic Loudspeakers in a large room and the All new Martin Logan ESL X Electrostatic Loudspeakers in a smaller room. You stop judging them and just enjoy them.

my Thiel CS 2.4SE

These new Martin Logan ESL X's or Martin Logan Renaissance 15a's sound amazing!! with the PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium HP Integrated Amp!

I've heard Martin Logan's with many good amps but this PrimaLuna Tube amp brings them to life like never before!

I'm hooked for life now!!..

The best speakers I have ever heard that cost less than $10,000 are my Vandersteen Treos.

If you want to spend 3 or 4 or 10 times as much, that is another story (but outside my financial limit).

35 years ago my next door neighbor had Acoustat monitors. They looked like the monolith in "2001; A Space Odessy". But they sounded amazing.

No question the best sounding speaker I have ever heard regardless of price is the Wilson Audio Sophia S2s driven by an Ayre Acoustics KX-R preamp and MX-R mono-blocks. This delivered the most extraordinary sound I have ever heard from two speakers. There was this all enveloping dimensionality to the sound that borders on impossible to describe. When you roll in the DAC and streamer that were attached to that system it was $100K so I would hope that it would stand out.

In the $5-$10K range, I like the Verity Finn's but in fairness I have yet to hear the Vandersteen Treo's which I have very high hopes for. The Finn's were extremely musical and were just easy to listen too. I could easily spend days, months or year's listening to them and everything just sounded great on them. Good and bad recording. Just a really special speaker.

In the $2-$5K range, I am torn. I like the Acoustic Zen Adagios and the PSB Imagine T2s. Picking the right power amp for the Adagios requires some care but they can sound amazing when paired correctly. The Imagine T2s are easy to drive and listening to them driven by the Ayre K-5xeMP and V-5xe preamp poweramp combo was extraordinary. I would love to hear these two side by side.

In the $1-$2K range I like the Sunfire CRM-2s. I am biased in favor of ribbon speakers and have always loved Carver Amazing's and if you have the right room, a monstrous power amp and a great subwoofer, these little speakers deliver jaw dropping sound. These remind me of one of my all time favorite speakers which were also in this price range back in the 90s, the Carver Amazing IIIs. Still regret buying the Infinity Kappa 8.1s over those.

In the sub $1K range, gotta love the Wharfedale Jade 3s at $999. Not sure if there is a better speaker for the money though again, I think amp choice is critical.

Devore Gibbon X. The tonality, space and presence of these speakers was far above anything else I have heard. It's nice that they are easy to drive as well. IMO these blow away the top of the line B&W speakers but that may be a matter of taste.

The best speaker that I have ever heard are hands down the Legacy Audio Aeris followed by their Focus SE's.

Currently the Revel ultima Salons in my basement!

The Line Source speaker system was impressive in its spatial qualities. They have a very life like presentation of a band or orchestra.

Hard to say if they're the best, but certainly one of the most unique sounding and entertaining speakers I have heard.

When I was in the market looking for speakers, I liked best the B&W 800 series and I end up owning the 803D(2). I may say best piano and violin performance ever heard.

Hence I listened to jaw dropping jazz from Duevel Sirius. Really life-like performance.

Ohm A - voices sounded in-the-room, very detailed, full-range sound

Beveridge 2SW - created a curtain of sound across the space between the two facing-each-other speakers, can pick out individual clapping hands,

Many good sounding and imaging speakers today have only a single sweet-spot.