speakers that rock

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

I've never actually heard them, but my understanding is that the very hard to find OHM Is with built in sub could rock the foundations. According to the OHM site, these were perhaps the most kick--s OHMS ever.