Best speakers for 3 cord rock and roll

Scott why not go and audition some speakers at Paragon

I think you will be impressed. They carry several respected brands and are in your home town!

Nothing is better than your own ears in an audition, Ask to hear ATC SCM 19's and SCM 40's some Def Techs and B&W's. They even carry Wilson's so you can compare. If you go on a weekday when they are not busy then they might let you experiment for several hours.

You are not obliged to purchase anything be honest about your budget and tell them that you want to hear things in your range but also their best fare - dress nicely and be courteous and go when they are not overwhelmed with customers....and bring a few favorite CD's...good luck.

Oh ...and report back please!

dress nicely and be courteous and go when they are not overwhelmed with customers

Scott,

Upon re-reaing this it could be taken the wrong way. I mean no disrespect to you.

....all I mean is that if you show people a great deal of respect then they tend to give it back and that way you will get way more out of an audition...I know from bad experiences myself.

Pretty much all Montanas, even down to the SP2/3 are very good at doing loud, dynamic rock n roll.

Ive been hunting the same, though in addition to 3 chord rock add metal to the mix. So far I tend to find an either/or kind of presentation. Either great with imaging/nuance or punch/power...but not both. Its all about trade off's I guess. But without typing a novel, the latest speaker I heard that did both very well, was the B&W 804S. Probably not much above your budget used.

You might find you can get your Ya-Ya's out with Dynaudio. Likely a dealer in your area. Perhaps mid-fi compared with some of the favorites here, I bought a pair of 72 floorstanders for about half your budget for my basement after listening and liking my son's powered monitors he used for mixing.