Rap music on high-end speakers

Tru,
This thread is so far off track, I will offer you some HI-FI advise first of all... Look into some good subs with the proac 3.8s.. Some good subs are(least to most recommended) Carver signature cube, Bag End Infrasub 18, REL (the best you can afford) and Aerial SW-12. One other avenue is to hear an Avalon Acoustics theatre (sentinels, sub and center).
I currently have a pair of Avalon Eidolons in one system and a pair of Arcus in the other, both powered by tubes. The Eidolons will do about any bass note with authority when asked.. I am running them for HT...
And yes (what this thread has been waiting for), I do listen to ALL types of music -- rap, speed metal, classical, alternative, country, techno....

I have received the snobbish attitude at audio dealers, and have actually taken out equipment that has been inadequate with Beat Dominator, Addicted to Bass, Techmaster P.E.B, etc.

I also have neighbors that think that I have my own "clockwork orange" going on in my house when they hear the beat of Jamaican Reagge or Mr. Bungle followed by Mozart or the 1812. They are also impressed with the measures to make sure the siding and trim do not rattle from the bass.

Listen to what you want, and forget the people who ridicule you for that. Being an musician in a previous phase in my life, I can't waste my time worrying about what others think of my musical tastes...

Patrick123,
I use to have the same problem where I could not listen to certain CDs in my system. I use to own Avalon Radians, Rowland Model 8, Rowland Synergy II, CEC Transport, Classe DAC1, Cardas Neutral Cables, Linn LP12, Plinius M14 Phono. Now when I played CDs if the CD was recorded well (no matter what type of music) the systems sounded wonderful. Maybe the best I had heard to date (2 years ago). When I put in a CD that wasn't recorded well it sounded very bad. So I found myself listening to about 10% of my music. So I had a choice, keep buying CDs and listen to only about 10% of them, even though I loved the music, or change my system. I ended up changing the system because to me its all about the music. If I buy a CD I want to listen to it. When I started looking for a new system the dealers couldn't believe I wanted to change because they said a good system should do what mine was doing. I then told them that sorry but to me its all about the music not the equipment.

Just my 0.02 (before taxes :-))

Excellent point Bryans. What good is a "music reproduction system" when it is no longer "musical" or "enjoyable" ??? Once again, we come back to walking that fine line between "accurate" & "detailed" vs "musical" & "pacey". For a system to work "right", you've got to have equal measures of all of the above. This is true REGARDLESS of the type of music that you listen to. Sean
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If your Levinson amp has over or 100 WPC,I would suggest the B&Ws 801 series 3,a bit easier to drive than the series 2.Has very good and tight bass and nice silky mids and highs,if you fell that the amp cant drive these speakers i would definitly suggest the B&W 802 series 3.Why I have a pair and they do the job very well,I was using Conrad Johnson MF-200 and Premier 3 pre,but got an offer on the preamp that I couldnt refuse.You might want to try out the MARTIN LOGAN speakers,I had the SEQUELS and they sounded great with rap and R&B,soul music.The Martin Logans can handle it too.Also you can check out the B&W NATILUS speakers too.More looot but definitly worth a listen.Try listening to those speakers and decide.Its nice to know that you like tubes in the pre and S/S power,it's a nice combination.Good luck on your search.

My Dunlavy V's with Classe electronics does great job on hip-hop music or ANY kind of music. I listened to all kinds of music. Classical or Jazz one session, Electronica or rock on other and always hip-hop when I want to let loose. Rap music HAS high fidelity elements. Music! All music has high fidelity elements-as lon as there is sytem that reproduces faithfully. Be it violin, vocal, cymbals or electronic music. Rap music has a bad RAP from typical jazz/classic/old classic rock audiophiles. Wake and smell coffee! Why do you think the top ten songs are mostly populated with Rap Artists. RAP IS HERE TO STAY. I always listened to rap/electronica in my car equipped with Pioneer premier front end and PPI amps, generating very high-endish sound.( No boom to speak of). When the mood strikes, Iistened to, for example, any good Mapleshade CDs. Tru, Like you said a great system will make any music sound the way it was meant to be: MUSICAL