Speakers for bad rock recordings

Thanks for the suggestions. I thought about getting a tube amp but I've been told it's not good to leave the power on all the time, which I do often. I have a turntable but most of my listening is with flacs through a modded soundcard. EQ does help, but turning down the high freq's loses a lot of the music.

The OHM Walsh or Spendors sounds like a possibility. I'm not sure about really old speakers because of the degradation of parts over time. Big speakers wouldn't work well in my small apartment. The heresy's I have are ok, but the sounds seems to blend together, I'd like to have more separation.

Yes , you do not want to leave a tubed device on all of the time . It will wear out the tubes prematurally .
Why do you 'tend' to do that ? Memory ?

Another alternative would be to try some non-tubed DAC's . You might find one that would allow you to tailer/color the output to your desires . Sort of like the tubes would do .

Good luck .

Because I use the amp for the PC, music and movies. Sometimes I forget to turn it off because I'm using it all the time.

Basically I'm just looking for speakers for my apartment that don't have to be loud to sound good, and make bad metal recordings sound pretty good. Like the Grado phones. Metal heads love Grado.

Another unorthodox (in 'audiophile' circles) suggestion: B&O Beolab Penta, an early pair (Penta I) can probably be had for your budget. I've owned a couple of different pairs and lived with them in apartments . . . and for rock, metal, and punk, they will do exactly what you're after.

The bass response is full and warm but not boomy, but slightly gritty in a way that fits this music well -- the bass has some adjustability as well. The Penta I's lack a bit of sparkle for classical and jazz, but really bring a sizzly rock/punk recording into nice focus. They crank up really well . . . but also hold together at low volumes.

Oh and they look cool, hold their value well, are relatively insensitve to room placement, and have pretty decent monoblock power-amps built in. RCA out from your preamp (or variable out from CD, DAC, or phonostage) is all that's required.

I saw and ad for a pair of Phase Technology PC80's someone is selling locally for $100. Blindjim recommended those. I might also try to find some old Advents, I know they come up for sale often here.

I'd rather be patient and buy locally to save on shipping, but buying that way I won't be able to get brands like Spendor and OHM Walsh, unless I wait a really long time.