speakers that rock

Speakers that rock? I presume you mean "speakers that rock other than powered speakers and horns".

Many speakers have headroom and don't compress, for example, my old Revel Salons and Vienna Acoustics Mahlers, but in order for a speaker to really go loud and still sound good, it also has to be efficient so it doesn't have to be run with high-wattage amps that use feedback. Examples are some of the bigger Wilsons and the Escalante Fremonts. I regret parting with my Fremonts (I did so for aesthetic reasons). It took me awhile to get them dialed in, but once I did, they were fantastic - good God they're explosive and go loud cleanly. Unfortunately, none of these speakers fits your budget.

Of course, if you really want to rock, big horn systems and powered speakers like ATC's are the easy answer. Perhaps you could find mid-level ATC's at near your budget.

I would suggest either snell C4's or C5's if interested in floor standing speakers.

ZU Druids IV 08 and a subwoofer. If purchased used, you can resell them with little loss if they do not work out. If set up well, the sound is big, dynamic, rhythmic, rich, and they can play very loud cleanly.

Cerwin-Vega CLS-215. 93 dB sensitive, bass into the 20's powered by two
15" woofers, well reviewed even by audiophile magazines, and way
under your budget thanks to vertical integration and economy of scale.

They are bi-ampable and can absorb something like 450 watts. Their ability
to play loud and uncompressed is legendary. Their frequency response curve
is remarkably uniform at different amplitude levels.

Take the money you save on speakers to get enough amplification to
complete the equation to rock.

Klipsch really do that live punchy rock thing reason why horns dominate pa systems