speakers with balls

Without a budget specified, sky is the limit. Furthermore, in my experience, rock music only sounds good and "rocks" if/when you listen at higher volumes. If your room size is small to medium and you listen to your music at lower volumes, you’re better off with a good pair of monitor speakers and a subwoofer. I recently heard a pair of Tekton Impact monitors at a colleague’s house paired with a Jolida 3502s and I thought it sounded incredibly good. Pink Floyd’s Final Cut sounded crisp, detailed, with a deep and wide layered soundstage. I don’t think a subwoofer was needed at all. His entire system including a Bluesound Node2 was just a tad over $4K.

IMO the 3 most important factors for a convincing rock/metal presentation is great mid bass, good dynamics, a top end that won’t take your head off.
I had some Klipsch Chorus 2s for a while. They were really fun and could definitely rock but need to EQ them fairly heavily in my room. The bass didn’t go real low but it had that punch you in the chest quality. Still at times that tweeter could get pretty piercing even with the EQ. For around a Grand for a good pair I don’t think you can do better for rock. I haven’t heard any of the newer generation of Klipsch Heritage. 
Tekton DIs are great for rock and metal without as many compromises as I heard with the Klipsch. Better mid bass, definitely not as much fatigue. I will say while the Tekton bass goes lower it doesn’t sock you the way the Klipsch did. 

My GE Triton 1 and GE Triton Reference are used 95% for Rock and I am extremely satisfied with them. 

How about an active speaker like Kii 3’s? Increasingly popular with studios as well.

mofojo274 posts03-19-2018 2:33pmIMO the 3 most important factors for a convincing rock/metal presentation is great mid bass, good dynamics, a top end that won’t take your head off.

kalali1,072 posts03-19-2018 11:57amWithout a budget specified, sky is the limit. Furthermore, in my experience, rock music only sounds good and "rocks" if/when you listen at higher volumes.
Amen.  

Nice to see a couple of posters that get it with rock.  Absolutely nothing I hate more than to go into a "high-end" store and almost feel I'm being looked down upon due to my choice in music.

Personally I listen to a fair amount of your basic classic rock, blues, hard rock etc.  Unfortunately there are many bad recordings out there lacking bass, or a "digital remaster" that is cooked so freaking bright that many "audiophile" speakers will take your damn eardrums out past 92 dbs.

Then, I do listen to some metal which frankly is damn hard to reproduce properly.  

It's actually a tough combo.  Horns can provide the dynamics but can be bright, finding a woofer that hits low and can keep up with a horn is also tough.  I've had speakers that hit low and tuneful, but don't provide any OOMPH.  Powered woofers do provide one solution.  Rock lives in the midrange and midbass, so coherance is a key.  Most rock guys want a big soundstage and may sacrifice a bit of imaging/depth to get it. 

I've all but ruled out anything metal dome tweeter wise for what I listen to and how loud I listen.  Yes, the voicing matters more, but by in-large, I just don't like a metal dome (yet some of the diaphrams in the JBL horns are metal and I like them.)

I feel like I'm on my constant quest for the perfect rock speaker.  Some thoughts, observations and sweeping generalizations.

Klipsch - Many go here first, and frankly not a bad option depending on the model.  A low volumes do rock pretty well as they tend to stay dynamic.  But, as the volume goes up, typically the brightness does and many models don't hit as low and move as much air as I would want.  IMO, I would want tubes somewhere in the system, or McIntosh.  People can rip Klipsch all they want, but I'll bet it was many Rock guys first "good" speaker.  RF7 II/III's, old Chorus/Fortes (new fortes), the KLF series ... give them some tubes/mcintosh/Harman Kardon and you could do a lot worse.

JBL - So many models, so many choices.  But typically not as bright as klipsch.  Much of the stuff designed for Japan is light on the deep bass, but damn they are fast.  the 4367, 4700, M2 as far as newer stuff can do a damn good job for rock.  All 3 move some serious air.  I really dig the 4367 or M2 (if you want to deal with pro gear).

Golden Ear - Triton 2+ is the sweet spot IMO, the powered woofers can move some air, they are not remotely bright, they throw a big soundstage. I do think they are a bit lacking in resolution and may not "snap" a snare drum like some others.  The Triton 1's and reference are OK, but really are just MORE of the 2+. No more refinement, just more.  I think in particular the reference can be beat at the price... but it's a fine speaker.  Because of the woofers you can push them with a receiver to ear blisterning levels.  Because of the tweeter you can use bright electronics and not get hurt.

DynAudio - I've got the Contour 60's.  I think the 30's and 60's are damn fine rock speakers.  Both can move a ton of air, the Esotar 2 tweeter is just great as it's detailed without being bright. Big soundstage (but I've heard even bigger).  Downside - you need power, quality power.  Dyn's up and down the line however have the same characteristics.

Ohm Walsh - Ok, I've got some old beat to crap sound cylinders.  They still sound good.  HUGE soundstage, crap to of bass.  Honestly, I really want to hear the new SSC/3000/4000/5000.  Not harsh.  Downside - resale could be tricky.  They are what they are, somewhat similar to Golden Ear in that as you move up you just get "more" though with a few upsides.  Not new, not flashy.  Also like a fair amount of power.  Need to use reflections to sound best (but if you have the right room the stereo image is gigantic).   (the SSC might pack the most punch in a small package of any speaker on the planet)

Tekton - Have had the chance to check out the D.I., D.I. S.E. and the Ulf's lately.  I was very surprised by them.  Dynamic, fast, play deep.  The DI is the true bargain at 3k retail.  They do have their own sound.  They play low.  At times I felt they were absolutely amazing (all 3) and at times I was slightly bothered by them.  Almost like I felt notes were missing, but then I would hear something I had not heard the same way in a recording.  I can absolutely see why people are wowed by them, yet I went back and forth asking myself if wanted to own them.  

Legacy - I've demo'd the Signature SE and Focus SE, liked them both.  I've heard they can be a bit set-up dependent which surprises me, but I've only heard them in a show setting.

JTR - Noesis 210RT - heard them at a show.  Liked them on a brief demo.

Maybe this helps... 

@stereo5 
I had the Triton 1s as well. Yes they were a good rock Speaker. I only sold them to go to bookshelves for a small room in the basement where I was banished;-). Voices with tv bothered me for some reason. 

Arafiq - +1

Magnepan 1.7 or the 1.7i’s will do the trick with proper amplification and speaker placement will knock your socks off. I would recommend that if you purchase either make sure you get a pair of DWM’s. They worked great when I had the 1.7i’s.

Cheers 

Second the Dynaudio recommendation if you’re looking for an “audiophile” speaker that can still rock. The Esotar drivers can handle a lot of power without too much compression. For a smaller speaker, the Special Forty is very ballsy, and has a full mid bass that I think will work well with rock. A little under damped for my tastes tho so may not be your cup of tea if you like super tight bass.

And no offense to the Maggie folks, but I don’t see how those otherwise fine speakers could ever qualify as “rockers”. :)

Another vote for Goldenear. The built in powered woofers on some models are very well integrated sonically and offload your amp to spend its energy on the mids and the high-tech tweeter.

Cerwin Vega XLS-215  .----

Pi Speakers. If you can build, all their models come as kits. Assembled they're reasonably priced. Better than Klipsh.

Tannoy Legacy Arden; they'll rock, sing, swing, trumpetize, energize, dynamize, precise image, huge soundstage at same time, lively, extremely musical speakers, doing it all well distortion free very loud or of course also very softly, and they like lots of power contrary to what many believe about Tannoy's liking of small tube amps. You'll just need over 200hrs run-in (at some high volumes too) before they reveal their full and true nature. They are just very engaging full range speakers with a natural and lively sound, without fatigue.

Interesting thread . I own Zu Omens, JBL 4312a’s that are pristine on Sound Anchor stands and Klipsch Heresy III’s . I love my Zu’s . I had a Modwright KWI 200 paired with the JBL’s and it was too dry . The JBL’s come to life with tubes at about 100 Watts . The JBL’s are near field studio monitors . And while sounding substantially better than the Heresys, are meant to have a flat response for mixing . The amp matching is important to get that sound you want . For me it’s KT88 or KT120 in a push pull configuration. I run the Zu’s on low power tubes . If I went SS, I’d get a First Watt. Also the best description of  Zu is “ YOU EITHER LOVE THEM , OR HATE THEM”. For me it’s Love them . But I tube roll when I change music genres, YMMV . Happy Listening , Mike B. 

  JBL 4350, biggest balls in town 

Ok, so oddly no one has mentioned it but if you want a speaker that truly rocks and does everything else extremely well Klipsch Palladium is what you have to consider, either the p37f, 38 or 39. They pop up here and there on different sites used occasionally and do exactly what you're looking for. No, they are not bright if they're driven with quality gear. Frankly my search would start and stop there.

Tekton Pendragons

I think my Zu Omen Defs rip the paint off the walls. I'm pushing them with Bryston amps and pre. Possible that the power is the issue?

Lots of good advice so far. I’ve had JBL, Klipsch, Paradigm, Infinity, you name it.

Klipsch Heresy, Forte, Chorus, Reference, Cornwall -- all incredible rock speakers. I listen to alt rock, classic punk, rock from the 70s to modern, acid rock, metal (nothing too severe).

Alt Rock is my favorite. I have Klipsch RF-7 IIs in walnut connected to a Parasound HCA-3500 -- it’s like having an amp dedicated to each speaker. Someone here said "hearing protection". This is an understatement. I’ve knocked pictures off the walls upstairs in my home!

The horns are mega bright. To temper this a little I put something like dynamat on the backside of the horn which helped smooth the high resonant freq of the horn material (I think it’s ABS or similar).

All in all, you can’t go wrong with Klipsch. In your situation (medium size modern unit?), you’ll love the Heresy. They’re beautiful inside and out.

 I would suggest you audition the speakers from VanL speaker works in Chicago (Actually Norridge IL)   When modified to your tastes, let John VanL know your want to rock, these have significant balls, but transition to Blues Jazz or classical in an exceptional fashion.  The the stand mounted Quartette or the floor standing Silhouette become some of the best choices, i have heard.   I really liked my Maggies / ML's /AR's/ Acoustic Energy etc and have listened to most of the really high end speakers, but I fell in love with my VanLs especially with the mods John made for me.

The Who  Hendrix, Zepplin  the Kinks, Cream, Bowie or Stills Kooper and Bloomfield on Super Session, Muddy or Buddy never sounded better 

I'm running a pair of ATMs (SCM12 Pro) on my desktop--and I'm immensely impressed by these big 2-ways. 

They eat power for breakfast (powering them w/Wyred4Sound ST500 amp @255WPC). They can get so much louder than I would be able to tolerate in this home office (13' X 13"). 

Bass is rather astounding for a 2-way. Articulation is off the charts. Lots of detail, but not bright/peaky. I see why the studio types go batshit over these.

Strongly recommended. And BTW, if you spend even more money, you can get the same drivers/crossover in a "prettier" wood enclosure that's somewhat smaller in volume (11 liters vs 12 liters): 
https://www.musicdirect.com/speakers/atc-scm11-v2-bookshelf-speakers

ukaszwk16 posts03-23-2018 9:36amOk, so oddly no one has mentioned it but if you want a speaker that truly rocks and does everything else extremely well Klipsch Palladium is what you have to consider, either the p37f, 38 or 39. They pop up here and there on different sites used occasionally and do exactly what you're looking for. No, they are not bright if they're driven with quality gear. Frankly my search would start and stop there


Owned them.

Everyone ears are different.  I used pretty warm electronics.

Above 90dbs - too damn bright.  I was bummed.  Cymbals came way too forward in the mix for me.  Also, they don't hit low.  Not nearly enough bass.  The RF7II's do better in the bass.

I'm not a klipsch hater, in fact I like them in many cases.  The palladiums look great, they have very little horn coloration, they are fast, and at lower levels sound great (a little bass shy).

But, I wished they were a bit less bright at volume, and simply had more bass.

I drive the Heresy IIIs with a small-ish 12 watt per side SE amp, use a tube preamp, and 2 REL subs. These speakers are clear and clean with no treble fatigue, and this system will play anything you put through it with aplomb (yeah man…aplomb). No low bass with these but the RELs supply that bit, and I've listened for harshness as I can't stand incoherence. I hooked my mosfet SS amp up to them to test the tube grease factor in an attempt to keep things honest. They sound fine with the SS amp (around 8 times the power of the SE amp), but much better with tubes, still retaining clarity and 99db efficiency which allows them to play loud even with 12 watts.

I have owned epi,magneplaner,polk,altec,klipsch,infinity,heil, advents,, and jbl 4408,4410,4412,112,100,l65,l300,l36,96,and now revel f208....go cheap and try vintage large advents...you can always get your money back and try something else

I have the Proac D48R and listen to a lot of classic rock. They are outstanding......very versatile speaker.

Vintage Altec-Lansing Voice of the Theater. Big bottom cabinets, horns on top. 

Hi daveyonthecoast,
It seems that your choices are more of a lateral move rather than a move towards achieving your Balls Out goal.

Your Speakers, Zu soul have a frequency response of 45Hz-22 kHz
The Magneplanar 1.7 have a Frequency response of  40Hz-24 kHz
The Gallo 3.5 have a Frequency response of  34Hz-20 kHz

What you are looking for ideally is something that would get you in a frequency response of 25Hz-40kHz. If you can get 20Hz - 60kHz even better. But you will have to pay $$$$ for that.

You may have to do it in stages.
For instance If you like the Maggie's, then look to pair it with some REL subs. https://rel.net/speaker-pairing/1-7i/
The 3.7 REL combo will surely help you to achieve the balls out sound you are looking for. https://rel.net/speaker-pairing/3-7i/

Below are some other reputable Loudspeaker companies that you should check out. Bache should give you best bang for buck. Eagleston just merged with China, so I hope it does not affect their reputable products. Devore Fidelity is just Awesome.
 
www.devorefidelity.com
www.egglestonworks.com
www.bacheaudio.com

Have Fun,Best of Luck

Try a pair of XTZ Sound Divine Alpha's that's what I'm looking at..
The Utah audio companies RBH and Tekton.. Also add 2 small subwoofers..

Why not have both? For classic hard rock speakers try some vintage Cervin Vegas; but for a little more finesse try the a vintage C-V tower like the C-V Tr12.  And you'll still have money left over for a set of Magnepan, Gallos, or others suggested here. 

Speakers with balls...check out the GoldenEar Triton two+ 
I auditioned and they rock with seemless bass integration and awesome imaging.   

Monitor Audio silver series are a good compromise between fidelity, balance, and sharpness.  Great for metal and prog.

BTW I have a pair of Maggie 3,3s rebuilt by John VanL and with 2 REL Subs that is a very good rocking combo. Ive blown a few tweeters but you can do it.  Great fo electronically.

My Silverline Preludes came with a brass ball option to be used instead of the also supplied spikes…so yeah…these are speakers with balls.

Prog rock and any other music 
jbl 4425 or 4430 depending whether you have room and SVS 4000 sub you will be satisfied, if you have old ears add 2404 for extra highs. I am a rock and prog drummer. I was never satisfied until these. You can experiment high passing the JBL's around 60hz or full range. 
You will not be disappointed 

I have a pair of PSB Imagine XBs that really rock for bookshelfs. I imagine their towers would be a much bigger dose of the same.

http://soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/821-psb-imagine-x2t-loudspeakers

+1 for the Monitor Audio Silvers. I still have the 8s. They will play loudly! I have them in a third system because I like the sound of my Vandy 2Cs so much better for my main system, but I will admit the MAs are better at playing above 95 dB if that is your thing. 

I had a pair of jbl 250ti's. 4 way, 14" woofers with 20 lb magnets, 500 watt McIntosh amp. That would rock you.
 

You've got amps with balls so if it were me I'd look for a speaker with a toast one 12-15 inch woofer ,I've owned every last model of the Klipsch heritage line ,best bang for the buck is a pair of Klipsch Cornwall 2's in good shape ,if the horns are too bright it's a simple $2 fix to smear some cheap silicone on the tweeters inner throat ,same with the mid horn ,I find Cornwall a bit Brite and must damp the tweeter ,that aside with 250 watt mono blocks you can blow your windows out ,or enjoy quiet passages from modern classical I listen to a lot ,you will find zero benifit in buying the Cornwall 3 except an extra $4 grand ,if Cornwalls are too big then Heresy 3's are an excellent choice that won't break the bank ,and can use all those extra watts , Heresy 3s do not do well on stands ,if you have wood floors you can damp the bass with a towel under the heresys slanted riser ,best thing about Klipsch heritage line is they are like Mcintosh gear ,if your unhappy you can flip within a month and not lose a dime .

If you have a few thousand to spend and have the room then the 4 piece Mcintosh XRT-22 line arrays are the best you'll hear at any price and the 250 watts will drive them perfectly .

I’m currently looking for the same thing in a Speaker. 

Daveyonthecoast, I have Goldenear Triton 5 Speakers running with a JL D108 Sub. They sound nice, but don’t rock like I want. I’m sure the models higher up the food chain are better with the powered subs. 

 Have my eyes on those Tekton Double Impacts... also Tyler Acoustics Halo 1’s, PD90 or the H2. But I haven’t seen a lot of feedback on any of those.

if you’re into vintage, good luck finding a pair of old MTX AAL 2230’s. Total bad ass. 

Good Luck!

You guys are amateurs...

If you want speakers with Rad 'Nads, combine the Tannoy Westminster Royal Gold Reference with a Wilson Audio Thor's Hammer sub-woofer.

Then put on Black Sabbath's Paranoid Album, and turn it up to Eleven.

Steve Guttenberg tested the new-ish Forte III and concluded that although it didn't outperform his reference stuff in detail or something, it outperformed them all when playing things loud. There ya' go.

250watts going thru horns would make my ears bleed!
big no on the Maggies-
consider a 4 ohm Floorstanding speaker like Dynaudio with the SPL around 86-89. I have a pair of the Contour S3.4s. 

These speakers crave and NEED (250 or more watts++) high current to sound their best. 
But when they get it, they do not disappoint. The internal bracing is overbraced to manage the vibrations that are expected from customers listening to high volumes with high current ... eg, rock and roll, large expansive orchestra's, etc. 
In other words, the Nirvana Bleach and Tom Petty album I listened to last week .... rocked!

Base balls or soft balls or volley balls!!!

If you like your speakers, just buy a big sub.  Sounds like that will do more of what you want.  

I am a Martin Logan electrostatic fanboy so I say that's a winner. Built in sub and a tall panel which presents a pretty large surface area. I find they make plenty of noise. Ballsy enough for me and with 250 WPC just going to the panels with the built in powered sub handling the low end, they'll rock plenty hard.

dep14
DynAudio - I’ve got the Contour 60’s. I think the 30’s and 60’s are damn fine rock speakers. Both can move a ton of air, the Esotar 2 tweeter is just great as it’s detailed without being bright. Big soundstage (but I’ve heard even bigger). Downside - you need power, quality power. Dyn’s up and down the line however have the same characteristics.

those are the exact speakers I’m also considering (the Dynaudio Contour 60s)... along side Paradigm Persona 5F and a few others (curious how the Magico A3s will sound when they finally arrive). And in that ballpark price you can also get a used set of Revel Ultima2 Salons... I’m curious what other speakers you auditioned before settling on the Dynaudio Contour 60s. I’m also curious what amp you use (I have a Hegel H30).

If this gets of topic from the thread let me know and I’ll PM you.... just very curious to hear more from someone who purchased the Dyn Contour 60s.

Thanks!

Dave

Just traded all my Zu speakers, except for the Undertone sub, back to Zu. Gerrit and Sean were gracious enough to exchange 4 pairs of speakers for one pair of Omen Def Mk ll’s with the new radiance tweets. ( net add/ $495.00) I emailed Nelson Pass for advice and he indicated that my original array was a nightmare, fueled by morphine injections and some very overactive credit cards. If my wife Yina knew about this insanity, it’s certainly curtains for this above the knee amputee! I can’t overstate how cool the Zu Audio folks are. Highly recommended... Over and out... Jimi H. Cheers 🥂!

Sounds like a job for something from Klipsch...Forte IIIs in that size of place?

Well I ordered the Carver Amazing Line Source speakers and I hope they rock.

ozzy