I'm not sure what tonal characteristics are important to a "die hard rock fan." Volume? Sensing the presence of groupies? Being able to note the general state of mind of the road crew? What is the ability of speakers to "jam?" Is that when the speakers improvise for extended periods on their own? Disconcerting...I started playing live and loud in 1966 or so…opened for Zep during an early tour, saw Hendrix a few times (including from an orchestra pit about 10 feet from Jimi) and I still love to get my live electric guitar mojo going usually a little too loudly. That said, live large shows often aren't mixed well, and loud small shows (like at a nearby successful smallish venue) often aren't either, so if that's the paradigm it's a strange one. I try for accuracy in my hifi rig, which means what goes in actually comes out the same…warts and all…and hey…for me it's ALL Rock and Roll when that happens. Maybe the reproduction of musical dynamics is the thing one wants the home rig to get right, although often my criticism of newer (and a lot of older) rock stuff is that it's too damn monodynamic.
