I think there is WAY more to a good metal speaker than just being able to "rock" or shake the walls or whatever. Being loud doesn't mean it sounds good. Details and dynamics, tight bass, clear smooth highs... served with a massive helping of metal guitar punch in the gut. I'm starting to wonder at what price point do you get there.. ?Sky's the limit!
The best metal speaker will also be the best classical, jazz, prog rock or downtempo 90s speaker as well.
Again, one of the biggest myths in audio is that speakers somehow are good for one genre as opposed to another. The JBL L100s are trotted out as a good example for 60s and 70s rock, but that is mostly because people that had them and were listening to that kind of music liked them. Speakers are mechanical transducers and don't care a whit about what you put through them as long as you don't burn them up.
Earl Root (RIP) pretty much founded the metal scene here in the Twin Cities. His goto speaker was the Snell model B. It went to 22hz and could be driven easily by tube amplifiers to satisfying levels. They were very revealing so it was helpful not to feed them with junk electronics. But all their properties made them good for classical, folk, ethnic, deep trance, techno, prog, jazz, acid jazz, acid folk, dub step, medieval, chamber, death metal, speed metal, hip hop, country AND western, downtempo 80s and a lot more.
