Great sound at high volume

ALL Active ATC's. Lazarus28 is not BS'ing you.
The active 20's are bookshelf speakers and play
at 108 dB CONTINUOUS. The Active 100's will play
115 dB continuous and the Active 150's will play 118 dB
continous! I'm not talking peak here...

The 200's and 300's were made becuase of the rock
and roll bands used to blow the tweeters in the
recording studios. Now, they are indestructible
at a sound level below the pain threshold without
distortion. Truly a pro recording monitor now!

Charles

Dunlavy V's. Search for thread"rock and roll system"

The ability to play accurately and LOUD (without distortion) requires, obviously very high quality components; more specifically, the issue is the ratio between sensitivity and power handling. In general, this is what professional studio monitors are engineered to do. Price, of course, is a major issue. Have to $1K to spend? $5K? $10K? $20K?

I myself would recommend the Tannoy System 215 DMT or DMT II. 101-104 dB sensitivity (depending on whether measured in an anechoic chamber or half-space) with continuous power handling of over 200 wrms. Do the math: that's continuous acoustic output of over 120 dB with under 70 watts continuous input. But then you've got to put up with 300 Litre cabinets that weigh 187 lbs. each. Saw a pair on eBay recently for as low as $2K, but no one would buy them.

A final word: you need massive power for such high volume levels, not to produce the SPLs but to keep the sound clean. A clipping amp sends hundreds of times more power to your tweeters (especially); it's distorting amps that usually blow speakers, not powerful amps.

Good luck and happy listening!

Joel.

If I wanted rock n roll loud, I'd go with an old pair of JBL L-200's or L-300's, Altec 19's or VOT's and a big ol' Threshold power amp.

As a brand, the cleanest audiophile-grade sound I have heard at ridiculous volume levels has come from Wilson speakers - expensive, though. I'm not gonna comment on their other sonic qualities, but will add that, in general, fidelity to absolute volume is an area we willfully ignore to a great degree, probably because it comes at such expense and trouble, not to mention too often compromised sound in other, more frequently relevant aspects.