Speakers for Rock Music

Being a Classic Rock and Heavy Metal fan myself, and having tried many loudspeakers myself, only two options left:

B&W 802D

or if you budget is limited

Canton Karat 790 DC or 770 DC, excellent sound (value) for the money.

I also recommend to take Pink Floyd The Wall CD with you and listen to CD one at the very loud volumes. This will quickly show any shortcomings

Good Luck

UREI 813 speakers (A B or C lettered). Big dynamics, time aligned and used on plenty of mixing consoles. Of course they need to be played LOUD to sound best. Not everyone's cup of tea, with the right electronics they are the most dynamic speakers I've ever heard.

UREI 813 speakers (A B or C lettered). Big dynamics, time aligned and used on plenty of mixing consoles. Of course they need to be played LOUD to sound best. Not everyone's cup of tea, with the right electronics they are the most dynamic speakers I've ever heard.

Excellent suggestion - these were legendary in their day. Many of these famous horn studio speakers have been or are being replaced by modern speakers like ATC SCM 150 or 300's (Pink Floyd used Urei 813's until they switched to ATC around 1990) - hence for $2K you can often find some used 80's studio speakers at a very good price (some are just sitting in storage waiting for someone willing to restore them). Also try to look for used JBL 4435's or even Westlakes (although Westlakes are rare and rather expensive even used)

Dont forget, they need to be sofet mounted to perform as designed

Whenever these "Speakers for Rock Music" threads pop up, I always wonder how many of the contributors actually critically listen to rock music? Rock isn't just about "Turn it up, man! Freeeeeebird!" and bangin' yer head. There can be far more nuance within the genre than one may think.

While these noted necessities are not that different from what is required to properly reproduce other genres, IMHO a good rock speaker should be:

1. Very articulate
2. Dynamic (i.e. little compression / distortion at peaks)
3. Capable of moving an appreciable volume of air

However, the ability to express these qualities are probably just as attributable to the amplifier as to the speakers.

Do you like your B&Ws? What qualities do you think your current setup is missing? Are you just lacking bass? Is your budget based on selling your B&Ws?

Perhaps you should consider a pair of powered subs. $2k will buy you a pair of used REL Storm III subs.