Great sound at high volume

The ability to play accurately and LOUD (without distortion) requires, obviously very high quality components; more specifically, the issue is the ratio between sensitivity and power handling. In general, this is what professional studio monitors are engineered to do. Price, of course, is a major issue. Have to $1K to spend? $5K? $10K? $20K?

I myself would recommend the Tannoy System 215 DMT or DMT II. 101-104 dB sensitivity (depending on whether measured in an anechoic chamber or half-space) with continuous power handling of over 200 wrms. Do the math: that's continuous acoustic output of over 120 dB with under 70 watts continuous input. But then you've got to put up with 300 Litre cabinets that weigh 187 lbs. each. Saw a pair on eBay recently for as low as $2K, but no one would buy them.

A final word: you need massive power for such high volume levels, not to produce the SPLs but to keep the sound clean. A clipping amp sends hundreds of times more power to your tweeters (especially); it's distorting amps that usually blow speakers, not powerful amps.

Good luck and happy listening!

Joel.

If I wanted rock n roll loud, I'd go with an old pair of JBL L-200's or L-300's, Altec 19's or VOT's and a big ol' Threshold power amp.

As a brand, the cleanest audiophile-grade sound I have heard at ridiculous volume levels has come from Wilson speakers - expensive, though. I'm not gonna comment on their other sonic qualities, but will add that, in general, fidelity to absolute volume is an area we willfully ignore to a great degree, probably because it comes at such expense and trouble, not to mention too often compromised sound in other, more frequently relevant aspects.

Several factors to consider:

Sensitivity: The more sensitive the speakers ( higher spl with one watt ), the more likely they are to play loudly while still sounding relatively clean. Sensitivity is something that you should put a LOT of importance on though, as you will otherwise have to DRASTICALLY increase amplifier capacity.

Power handling: In order to do "ear bleed" levels with anything but a highly efficient speaker, you'll need something that can take high amounts of power over a long term. For this reason, DIN ratings are FAR, FAR, FAR superior to any other method of rating power handling.

Power output: You will need an amp that is capable of tremendous power output while running relatively cool. The hotter an amp gets, the "nastier" it will sound. I am talking about temperatures above what one would consider "normal". This is true of any audio amp and one of the reasons that many larger and Class A amps have a LOT of heatsink area. For reasons regarding heat and physical size, high quality digital amps tend to gain favor with the high spl crowd. Otherwise, forced fan cooling almost becomes a necessity.

Dispersion / loading characteristics: output levels at nearfield measurements are useless unless you listen at 1 meter. I would consider spl measurements at 8' - 12' or so MUCH more meaningful. As such, you'll have to take into account the size of the room, how well the speakers will load into that room, etc... the bottom line is that horns will produce the most sound at the greatest distance.

Surface area: In order to play loud, you have to move a LOT of air. Since all speakers distort quite a bit as excursion ( how far the driver moves in and out ) is increased, you really need to use a lot of drivers or drivers with a lot of surface area. Sharing the load minimizes excursion, reduces distortion, increases dynamic range, increase power handling, widens dispersion, etc... You can also run into problems with what is called "comb filtering", so there are trade-offs involved in multiple driver arrays.

All of this costs money. If you are expecting to raise the roof, do it consistently and have it hold up while sounding good, you better have a pretty deep pocket. Sean
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Not knowing your budget or musical preference? I'd say look at Legacy models from the Focus on up. They can play very loud with good authority, heard them personally and was impressed with high SPL with 100 watts. I've also heard that VMPS speakers, not sure of the models, can also play at high SPL's.
I'd have to agree with SdCampbell on the Klipsch K-Horns! "What'd you say?" was the only thing out of my mouth for a week after hearing(?)them demo'd at a party. My ears didn't even ring like that after a concert.