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What are the best speakers for 80's hard rock?

Hello folks!
I want suggestions for best speakers and amp for 80's hard rock music. Many bad recordings, so many high end speakers (and amps) sounds very harsh and hard, with little bass. It's more important to me that my stereo can play bad recordings in a good way, than play good recordings in a fantastic way.

I want very laidback and soft treble, but I want a bass that goes deep and alo is very punchy.

I know many people say that I should here on vintage speakers. But I want new speakers. Any price range!

Thanks for suggestions!
rockpanther
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,152 posts
 
I don't need the last word in timbal accuracy, inner detail, octave to octave balance, etc to maximally enjoy Van Halen - I need huge dynamic range, bass impact, and the illusion of 3D space - that guitar needs to be palpable.  The 101s deliver that in a way the SoundLabs don't - at least in my experience with auditioning both.
Sound Labs can be quite dynamic with the right amps. Its hard to make them work with solid state because they have a 30 ohm impedance in the bass which solid state can't drive with a lot of power.  For this reason a 100-watt tube amp can easily keep up with a 400 watt solid state amp on that speaker!

With the right amp the Sound Labs keep up with mbl101s no worries! They are quite fun to blast Massive Attack or Emerson Lake and Palmer. Not saying the same is not true of mbls by any means. You just have to make sure that the amp and speaker match, which is a different topic!

With regards to soundstage, dynamics, bass impact... you really need that to do classical music and a good deal of folk music.


bdp24's avatar
bdp24
10,248 posts
 

stfoth and marty, I have a few times made the case for your exact line of reasoning---the difference between conceptual and real world in regards to loudspeaker strengths & weakness and the demands different "kinds" of music (a string quartet vs. a symphony orchestra, for example) place on a speaker, and how those musical demands interact with those speaker strengths & weaknesses. But to no avail---we are apparently in the minority on this matter, and I don't understand why.

Everyone knows and agrees that a race car optimized for the 1/4 mile is a very different animal from one designed for the Autocross, as is a horse bred and trained for similar, same as a runner specializing in the 50 yard dash versus a marathon. Sure, we would all want to be a decathlon athlete, but how many of them are there? How many musicians are highly proficient in all musical styles? Of course a musician should be able to play any and all musics, but how many can? I can't think of any, off the top of my head.

Loudspeaker design is the art and science of compromise, the designer needing to prioritize his goals for every model. Every design has it's assets, and it's liabilities. Every music places it's own demands on a loudspeaker. It is that all music makes the same demands on a loudspeaker that is the myth, not that it doesn't. To anyone who doesn't think a given ability in a speaker must be sacrificed for another in order to achieve an overall goal at a certain price, I don't know what to say.

wolf_garcia
6,794 posts
 
I've been playing guitar for over 50 years and I can and do play a classical guitar (nylon strings), steel string acoustics, and electric guitar. In all styles…master of none really…but still…ever hear Bill Frisell?  The comparison of speakers to sports cars is inane to anybody who listens to great audio designs (or owns sport cars)…I've heard kick ass electric stuff on LS3/5As driven by vintage tube amps and it was sublime…no low bass but when you get everything else right it somehow is still right, and classical on my old biamped Altec A7s was also sublime…or mondo lime…or some citrus based thing…anyway I still side with the All Well Designed Speakers Play All Music crowd, only limited by overall loudness (the speakers, not the crowd), and loudness is relative anyway.
mrdecibel
3,150 posts
 
In my experience, I have found, listeners who primarily listen to rock, tend to " turn it up ", more so than other listeners. Whether better or not, a pair of large Cerwin Vegas ( the better ones ), will play louder, with less compression, than a pair of, say, Thiels, even with appropriate amplification in both cases. I listen a bit louder than most, which is a reason I enjoy my modified Klipsch Lascalas so much. They do ( believe it or not ), showcase all of the " audiophile characteristics " extremely well, such as detail, tonality, coherency, imaging, space, and, can disappear. What they do ( for me ), that many other speakers cannot do ( and I had many in my lifetime ), is play music, dynamically, with little, to no compression, and, with great pace and timing. These characteristics are very important to me, and they fit the bill, my bill, for a very reasonable price. I listen to mostly rock and jazz, with some classical, big band, and swing. MrD
shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,491 posts
 
Best is rather a personal choice.

But for sure it should have 15" woofers....
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