Hello friends I live in a modern unit!! of medium size!! I/m running a pair of Zu soul's, on some recordings, sound great, other's could be better!!, I'm looking at the below, my amps are "audio labs" mono blocks!! approx 250 WPC I'm looking for a speaker that "rocks"!! I have a short list of speakers, that according from web sites, are a good match 1. Magnepan 1.7 2. Magnepan 1.7.i 3. Gallo Acoustics 3.5 These are some speakers, that am willing to consider anymore more speakers, that you can recon-end??
IMO the 3 most important factors for a convincing rock/metal presentation is great mid bass, good dynamics, a top end that won’t take your head off. I had some Klipsch Chorus 2s for a while. They were really fun and could definitely rock but need to EQ them fairly heavily in my room. The bass didn’t go real low but it had that punch you in the chest quality. Still at times that tweeter could get pretty piercing even with the EQ. For around a Grand for a good pair I don’t think you can do better for rock. I haven’t heard any of the newer generation of Klipsch Heritage. Tekton DIs are great for rock and metal without as many compromises as I heard with the Klipsch. Better mid bass, definitely not as much fatigue. I will say while the Tekton bass goes lower it doesn’t sock you the way the Klipsch did.
Without a budget specified, sky is the limit. Furthermore, in my experience, rock music only sounds good and "rocks" if/when you listen at higher volumes. If your room size is small to medium and you listen to your music at lower volumes, you’re better off with a good pair of monitor speakers and a subwoofer. I recently heard a pair of Tekton Impact monitors at a colleague’s house paired with a Jolida 3502s and I thought it sounded incredibly good. Pink Floyd’s Final Cut sounded crisp, detailed, with a deep and wide layered soundstage. I don’t think a subwoofer was needed at all. His entire system including a Bluesound Node2 was just a tad over $4K.
Are all speakers of a certain gender? Sorry, just having a hard time painting a mental picture of speakers with male organs. Are they usually open baffle type speakers, sealed or front ported? Pics would help greatly. Thanks.
When you want to rock, you can't go wrong with some of the vintage Infinity speakers. The ones that I know rock for sure are the following:
Quantum 2 thru 5, QLS-1, RSM, RS-1.5, RS-2.5, RS-4.5, RS II (original and A/B variants) and the RS III (1st version).
Some of those speakers have to be biamped. Almost all of the above use the Watkins woofer except for the RSM, RS II and RS III. The RSM is the easiest to drive of the bunch. The RS II and RS III don't use Watkins woofers but they use two woofers crossed-over at different frequencies to approximate the Watkins behavior.
Horns!, Cerwin Vega, Dynaudio, JBL, Klipsch, legacy, and while I don't exclusively 'ROCK' my Revel's do a great job when i'm in the mood, they do need more watts than many others tho.
I had the original JBL L100's back in school. They were renowned as the cat's a$$ of their era as "California " sound MONITORs for ultimate rock and roll in the 70's ( geezer rock today )
They have been revived now as an updated new re-issue
Vandersteen Quatros. I have owned them for years. They "Rock" for me. Can be placed closer to the wall than other Vandys. The tweeter is not "in your face"...never bright. Plenty of bass if its on the recording.
Thanks Every one, for you input, i seems, a lot of you like the Klisch, floor standers, I have check out the web, but all info seems to support, that they are more suitable, to home cinema, I'm after stereo two channel music!! With deep, fast bass with with sweet highs!! Can we as friends, again, come up to a solution?? I live down the far south coast, of Australia, the nearest hi fi shop is 3 hours drive away, and they have limited audio gear, on the cheaper side!! 1. What Klipsch, floor standing, speakers??, do you reccomend, I wish to place them two feet, in front of the rear wall, max!! 2. I hear that the "golden ear" speakers, are very good?? I must repeat, I don't want a speaker that sounds, like a home cinema, with over boom, just wan't My Turntable, to re a nice deep tight bass, with no overhang, and to tame the high's, with sweet highs, most of my LP's sound great, but some seem to screech, I know there is a middleground Friends Please help!! Regards David
Paradigms, Prestige 95F, or if your budget allows, Persona 5F or even better the 9H. I run the monitor 11 v7 with an AVM60 preamp and an Anthem P5 amp.
Maggies have great mid and upper bass (they reproduce the upright bass really well), so as johnto suggested add a couple of REAL good subs, and you can rock to your heart’s content. Maggies will play pretty loud, but you had better have a pretty beefy amp. The Sanders Magtech is great with them, but it’s not cheap.
I pretty much only listen to Rock, Hard Rock, Metal, Blues, Reggae...
DynAudio Contour 30/60 - and you have the power to drive them - great bass, dynamic, can listen loud and they won't take your head off.
JBL 4700, 4367, 3900 in a smaller room - snap and speed the 4700 and 4367 have better low end.
Ohm Walsh - big soundstage, great low end, 3000, 4000, 5000 depending on room size (even the older stuff rocks), can take a crap ton of power and play loud
Tekton - Double Impact, or Double Impact SE - double impact is a heck of a bargain.
Klipsch - they do what they do. RF 7II, or III (or older stuff)
Well, my set up includes 2 pairs of Zu Omem floorstanders, 2 Omen bookshelves, stacked with a pair of Echos on short platforms on each side and the the Zu Undertone sub wired for stereo in the center. All are wired in parallel driven by a First Watt J7. My preamp is a McIntosh SS C50. I literally "Rock the House"... Just saying
Without exception Klipsch Forte I, II, III series speakers rock way above JBL’s And I’ve owned the best of those vintage lots. I have Klipsche Forte I’s that are original. Bought for $400 from the original owner 1 year ago. I use them for anything but they have BALLS to spare. I have CONRAD JOHNSON Premier 350, MF2500A, CLASSIC 120SE, PREMIER 140 c1 and I’m talking AC/DC, Kinks, Stones, YES, RUSH, Dave Mathews, Bob Marley, Soundgarden, Violent Femmes.
Use to own Maggie 1.7, loved them but don’t blow the doors off. Own Zu Omen Def and friends cannot believe these speakers with Sabbath, Rush, Daft Punk. I think the Zu Def with the built in subs will take you ( and I ) to the next level. They are getting pricey these days though.
Jbl l-65, l-200, l-300. Be prepared to spend some bucks. True rock speakers. I also agree with klipsch Cornwall’s and fortes. I just like the jbl sound more. Have fun.
Look no further than Dynaudio my friend!! These speakers love to be turned up loudly and rock music is especially dynamic and with punch! Also incredible midrange (3" voice coils) and the best highs. They also like power (which you seem to have lots of :-) I would look at the Confidence C1’s or Special Forty’s, partnered with a great sub from JL Audio, would make for a awesome system indeed. Best tweeters (Esotar) and drivers with voice coils that are largest in industry.
I agree with the JBL recommendations. Magnepan isn't a good rock speaker really. I don't know the Gallos but generally speaking, you want a large woofer that isn't crossed over too low. I'd guess those Gallos are crossing over to the woofer at a pretty low frequency so there are small drivers handling the upper and mid bass. I've never found that configuration very satisfying with rock. The JBLs have big 12 inch woofers that are most likely playing up to a few hundred hz. That makes for a punchy, powerful sound that is a lot of fun. In my opinion you need at least an 8" woofer to get satisfying punch and 10 or 12 is better.
Agree with comments above. Your shortlist is frankly pathetic for AC/DC Big Balls. More like Holly Cole & Norah Jones & Sirius XM Coffeehouse speakers in my mind.
Any dynamic music including modern jazz and classical along with death metal and hippity hop actually demands decent speakers that won't explode if you turn 'em up. It's simply a matter of the degree of level you plan to tolerate…I recently installed a pair of Klipsch Heresy IIIs simply because I like the sound of them, they're mui sensitivo, and they pair nicely with my massive 12 watts per side amp. I use 2 REL subs because I already had them, and if I feel like cranking the whole thing up I can get some serious levels I simply don't need, but if I'm drunk and dancing to something…well…you know...
Cornwalls....about $1k a pair and then a nice 50-100 wpc tube amp, the MC275 perfect you will need hearing protection and a decent lawyer to keep eviction at bay....
Totems when mounted on the "claws" have little balls instead of spikes, in addition to great sonics with well developed bass. Just right. There are Totems Staff here for sale on AGon. If I did not have the hawks already, I would get a pair.
The Emotiva T1s (and presumably T2s) have good reviews and the reviews seem to describe these speakers are real balls/rockers but with the nice AMT tweeter and don't cost a fortune.
Love my Vandies, love Maggies too, but neither of them would I consider having the balls to rock. Agree on the above posts. Just read JBL is re-introducing the L-100 with updated drivers and x-overs. $4k/pr. It will rock. BTW, if "modern unit" means "apartment", I would listen to 'phones if I wanted to rock.
I think Zu and Magnepans are some of the least "rock" friendly speakers out there. I'd add lower end Martin Logans to that list. Any modern three way floor stander with a >10" woofer in a $2K (used) price range will sound better.
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