Speakers for Rock - up to 1kusd

The idea that there are certain speakers that are good for rock is throughout this thread.

This is one of the biggest myths in the audio world! There is no design criteria that can be applied in such a way that a speaker can somehow be better at rock than other musical genres. The fact is if the speaker is good at one genre, it will be good at another.

To give you an idea of how pervasive this myth is, a few month back someone asked what speaker was better at mid-80s downtempo pop. How in the heck would a speaker know anything about 80s vs 70s or 90s?? Downtempo? Speakers don't care about the beat!

The requirements for rock are the same as they are for classical or folk or jazz: good dynamic range, ability to play bass, detail, lack of coloration.

I have Quad 57's for Baroque, but they are unsuitable for AC/DC at realistic SPL. Of course a speaker SHOULD be able to play all musics, just as it SHOULD be 100% transparent and uncolored.

Quad 57s do great on rock within their volume limitations. A lot depends on your room size and how lively the room is.

I find pinpoint imaging does not hurt rock at all. Check out King Crimson's 'Islands' LP; lots of things going on in that recording; the better your stereo the better it sounds! Black Sabboth's 'Paranoid' (white German Vertigo pressing) can bring many systems to their knees in a matter of seconds- and the recording is spectacular- the better your system the better it sounds! The best sounding Pink Floyd LP is actually a bootleg- entitled the Screaming Abadabs 'Rhapsody in Pink' which is a BBC recording of Pink Floyd performed in the BBC studio before a simple Decca stereo tree. Pinpoint imaging really helps as the recording has depth and dynamics just like the best classical recordings, and the better your stereo the better it sounds!

I think there must be an assumption that somehow rock is always poorly recorded and should be dreck played as loud as possible. This is really selling rock short, but that's the only explanation for why people must also think that there is a particular speaker or type of speaker that can do rock better. There isn't- that is a myth. The better your speaker, the better the rock will sound and there are many excellent rock recordings!