What is under $5k speaker with best bass slam?

Nothing beats active bass speakers like Genesis VI or V & Vandersteen V.

Active ATC's are pretty damn impressive for bass slam, but are nowhere near Dh4kim's price range. A guy I bought an amp from had the the SCM 150's and played traditional Japanese and Chinese drum music on them - holy crap!

Explosive dynamics, incredible timbre, and sheer power. Yet, everything was crystal clear.

Doug,

As a fellow drummer, I'll chime in with an opinion. If what you are after is for the low end to be more "lively", then strictly looking for slam capabilities may still leave you wanting. I actually found what I wanted by looking for an extremely balanced and well staged speaker top to bottom. With the midrange especially cleaned up, the stage opened up to the point it was much easier to hear the definition in the low end and it was less of a struggle to follow. I especially want to follow the subtleties of the kick and the baseline and that's what really enabled it for me.

I eventually settled on the ProAC Response 1sc (about $2,500 new, but used on the 'gone for under 2k). They may be too small for a 400 square foot space, but they'd fill a 12 x 12 easily.

Bottom line - if you want to get "involved" with the music and really 'feel' it, you need to be able to hear it clearly. Your milage may vary, but something to think about.

A guy I bought an amp from had the the SCM 150's and played traditional Japanese and Chinese drum music on them - holy crap! Explosive dynamics, incredible timbre, and sheer power. Yet, everything was crystal clear.

Holy crap! - is a fair assessment - it is almost impossible not to flinch or blink when you crank a pair of SCM150's on uncompressed drum music (those rare recordings like the Naxos Hok-Man Yim Poems if Thunder or Sheffield Labs Drum track). It can still startle you even though you know what is coming and when (after having heard the tracks many times).

selah audio galena- 2 aurasound 10" high excursion, high bandwith woofers, flat to 30hz. super detailed articulate bass slam