Do they make Speakers For Rap/Rock

Some audiophile speakers do rap and hard rock pretty well and other do not. Most will not do the ear splitting levels found in hot New York dance clubs with 1KW transistor gear powering big horns.

Like many at this site, I listen to all kinds of music. I admit I don't have much rap. A few albums by Eminem, The Streets, 50 Cent and the like. Hard rock? Yea, I have lots of that, from Jimi Hendrix to Queens Of The Stone Age, The Doors, Nirvana and the new Arctic Monkeys LP.

The answer depends a great deal on what you consider as loud when you say, "loud volume listener."

For me that's about 100 DB max, for VERY brief periods. For that my speakers do fine and exhibit no break down or distortion. For those that want a lot more, there are big horn systems that will "literally" damage your hearing (125 DB +).

Many years ago I was the tech rep for JBL. I assure you they manufacture sound reinforcement systems that will almost kill you.

The answer depends on how much volume and how much quality.

110 to 115 DB is serious sound pressure levels. Lots of people think they know how loud that is, truth is most can't grasp the number.

In my opinion, you will have to go to commercial sound gear to achieve that level safely. By safely I don't mean for your ears :^). I mean for the equipment to operate year after year on your schedule.

The JBL 4894-90 will produce 100 DB with 1 watt in, 46 HZ to 18KH and will accept about 2400 watts peak before clipping. They are only about 105 pounds so easy to deal with (relatively) and will produce over 132 DB with no clipping and (relatively) low distortion.

There may be some high quality audiophile speakers capable of 132 DB but I don't think they would survive for long, playing what you intend feeding them. I don't know the current price for 4894-90 but it will be cheap compared to a lot of high end speakers, maybe cheap enough that you can score a pair of JBL's used and get some audiophile tower speakers for more relaxed listening.

Those are tough questions since I really don't know your preferences.

The JBL I mentioned is not exactly audiophile quality but it is a very well made speaker and many rock and jazz concerts have been performed through lesser gear.

The reason I mentioned a commercial speaker is that lots of high end speakers will do loud, only up to a point. They are at risk if anything goes wrong. Something as simple as a connector pulled out during a crazy night of dancing or someone decides to grab the knob and "crank it." When this happens it's much more difficult to blow up a sound reinforcement speaker (than say) a Dynaudio.

An audiophile speakers ability to recreate nuances is their strength and with the music your describing, along with a large room and all out party, your not looking for nuance. Nothing wrong with having both kinds of speakers if you have the space and budget.

In fact, there was this dance club in Manhattan we went to late one night after the Stereophile show. There was this little brunette dancing soooo perfect to the super loud dance mixes. Of course she was not much older than my teenage son, but HEY, I was just looking :^).

Anyway, you likely need to visit some commercial sound places and see if that suits you. I was not kidding, you could buy some nice dance floor speakers and have enough money left over for audiophile speakers that do justice to rock at reasonably loud levels.

My Dali Megalines will do well over 100 DB with the 3KW of VTL tube amps I have on them. I choose these amps not for volume, but for their "voice." That particular amp matched up with the speaker and gave me the balance and dynamics I wanted.

The Dali will NOT compete with the JBL 4894-90 in hanging around the dance floor and blowing away your friends. I occasionally crank mine but mostly they play at 72 to 88 DB.

I think the JBL or other good commercial speaker might surprise you with the right electronics. They would never be right for classical, but that's not what your looking for, right?