What is the best HEAVY METAL speaker?

Outstanding for rock, techno, prog-rock, etc...;

- Legacy Focus 20/20 if you are looking used and low budget
- Legacy Focus HD if you are looking used and slightly more budget
- Legacy Focus SE, used or new, under $15K if memory serves on new price
- Legacy AERIS with Wavelet used is under $15K and is outstanding...

All these will move your walls and let you feel and hear the greatest rock material out there and so much more....Focus SE and AERIS are the 2 best....

Great thread.   I'm still looking for a the right metal speaker.   Just wanted to chime in that I posted/lurked here many years ago and read lots of suggestions for Klipsch Heritage.   My current Dali speakers are great,  ive kept them for 10 years and I can't see parting with them.
 But as mentioned in other posts... well recorded metal just brings them to their knees.   They are a wonderful speaker but it is obvious they were not voiced with hard rock or metal in mind. 

Anyway, I tried the Klipsch Quartets.   Ebay find with the Crites midrange mod.  Overall, they are pretty nice, yes they do "rock", they will literally shake the walls with my Mcintosh 6900. They are a fun speaker.  They are great for what they do, but overall a bit unrefined for my taste. I lived with them for about a year, and I believe I don't care for the horn sound,  not that it is bad, its just its own thing. Its very forward, subtle is not a word I would use, I see why people like them, just not for me.   

I think there is WAY more to a good metal speaker than just being able to "rock" or shake the walls or whatever. Being loud doesn't mean it sounds good.  Details and dynamics, tight bass, clear smooth highs... served with a massive helping of metal guitar punch in the gut.   I'm starting to wonder at what price point do you get there..  ?    

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I think there is WAY more to a good metal speaker than just being able to "rock" or shake the walls or whatever. Being loud doesn't mean it sounds good. Details and dynamics, tight bass, clear smooth highs... served with a massive helping of metal guitar punch in the gut.  I'm starting to wonder at what price point do you get there.. ?  

Sky's the limit!
The best metal speaker will also be the best classical, jazz, prog rock or downtempo 90s speaker as well.
Again, one of the biggest myths in audio is that speakers somehow are good for one genre as opposed to another. The JBL L100s are trotted out as a good example for 60s and 70s rock, but that is mostly because people that had them and were listening to that kind of music liked them. Speakers are mechanical transducers and don't care a whit about what you put through them as long as you don't burn them up.
Earl Root (RIP) pretty much founded the metal scene here in the Twin Cities. His goto speaker was the Snell model B. It went to 22hz and could be driven easily by tube amplifiers to satisfying levels. They were very revealing so it was helpful not to feed them with junk electronics. But all their properties made them good for classical, folk, ethnic, deep trance, techno, prog, jazz, acid jazz, acid folk, dub step, medieval, chamber, death metal, speed metal, hip hop, country AND western, downtempo 80s and a lot more.

this thread started in 2014!

• Hughes & Kettner Alex Lifeson Signature Edition TriAmp MKII.  Is my dream setup.

Rush used H&K.  .     I use pa speakers for rock, turbosound brand and they are far from hifi speakers. 

Some of my favorites for metal, and I do like a bit of volume with my serving of metal.

Ohm Walsh 4000,4900,5000 (4900 is the best bargain of the bunch if buying new).  Or get some old 4's/5's and do the upgrade.  In a smaller room the 3000's or the older Sound Cyl's do a nice job (I have some beat to absolute piss Pro-200's I'm rocking to Trivium  "The Crusade" right now, they are my back-up speakers but still a fun listen).  One note with the Ohm's, you want a solid amount of power.

JBL 4367/M2

Older Klipsch Epic C4's (but with a subwoofer and the right electronics)

The Legacy Signature and Focus SE's

Wilsons with the soft dome tweeter.

The Tekton DI's do a nice job

Spatial M3sTurbo's (possibly with a sub) Note, these speakers put you in the front row.

I liked what I heard from the Golden Ear Triton 1's with some megadeth.  

Right now though my tops would be the Newer Ohm Walsh stuff (in the right room) or the JBL's I believe.

I think a lot of what makes a good “Metal’ speaker is what sound characteristics you enjoy in your presentation.

i love metal of all variety, but when listening to metal at home, I tend to prefer fast transients, detail, and refinement.

Listening to Revocation’s “Greatest is our Sin” right now on a pair of two month old Sound Lab M645s with the new bass focus panels, and loving it.

The bass isn’t cracking the walls, but I can hear every thing with excellent delineation.

Altec Stonehenge 1's from 1972! I have a pair.

Kraco 6x9s, the important part is the enclosure.   I used a 1978 Trans Am for mine and couldn't be happier. 

i love metal of all variety, but when listening to metal at home, I tend to prefer fast transients, detail, and refinement.

Listening to Revocation’s “Greatest is our Sin” right now on a pair of two month old Sound Lab M645s with the new bass focus panels, and loving it.

The bass isn’t cracking the walls, but I can hear every thing with excellent delineation.

The Sound Labs are great for classical and jazz too.
BTW if you want them to play bass right, you need a tube amp. The Sound Labs have a high impedance in the bass (30 ohms) and its hard for solid state amps to make power. As a result, a 100 watt tube amp can keep up with a 400 watt solid state amp (and by that I mean it can make the same measured sound pressures) on that speaker.

Another vote for CF 4 ....  I had a pair driven by B&K M200 Sonata mono amps.  It was ridiculous, their size was ridiculous too.  Replaced by a pair of KEF Reference 2 .... also rocked.  

"1(Fast deep Bass, however not too over powering or boomy
2)Treble smooth and accurate that defines the lead guitars accurately without a brash blur of distortion.
3)Treble that lays the drummers symbols on top nicely to the rest of rhythm
4)A midrange that gives the vocals a clean but not harsh edge.
5)Good separation of the different instruments playing in the music
6)Good live sound, if you know what I mean."

   You've already purchased your speakers, but for future reference, consider some Tekton speakers.  I've owned a few of the speakers mentioned in this thread. Polk, Paradigm (Signature Series), JBL, Usher Dancers and a couple of others, all with the purpose of playing  loud, hard rock.  More recently I bought some Tekton loudspeakers and as much as I try to find fault with them (just my nature I guess), it's difficult to do. The characteristics you mentioned are all met by these speakers. The Double Impact or Double Impact SE will rock your socks off.  

JBL Everest if you can afford them. 
I couldn’t, and my listening room wasn’t big enough anyway, but I bought a pair of JBL 4367s with a pair of JL Audio Fathom subs, and I’m very happy with the set up. 

Save money and get cerwin vega. Really good for this style of music imho. 

JBL, hands down....

roberjerman,

Were those the Altec Stonehenge 1's  with the teak wood cabinets? I would have loved to have a pair of those back then!