I wanna rock -- with monitors on stands

Missioncoonery, I am playing the A1 stamper from the English pressing of "Give Em Enough Rope." It has never sounded better to me. Like I said, I wanna rock.

"Like I said, I wanna rock.”

Everybody will have their own standard for what that means, but something in your tone suggests to me that you ***WANNA ROCK!!!***. In my opinion, your amplifier is going to be an extremely limiting factor when you are already limited by your commitment to stand mounted speakers.

You can "really rock!!" a lot better than most with an 80 watt tube amp and very large and efficient (probably also very expensive) speakers, but to really rock, with most normal sized, less efficient speakers, you need to throw the kitchen sink at it in terms of amp power and current, and have speakers that can handle it at high volume. There are some monitors that can "rock", like better Dynaudios or Totem Mani 2 for example, but if you really "WANNA ROCK!!!", you'll need something with a larger enclosure. I have heard nothing rock better in a home than my current rig through my larger OHM 5s, but those are larger floorstanders with significant cabinet volume. Smaller OHMs can also do equally well in smaller rooms though.

IMO, your not rocking with that setup..You may think you are but I seriously doubt it..The speakers are only good from what I just read down to mid 4s and without cabinet volume or a nice sub,just not happening...I built a second system with 1950s EV and JBL 15s driven with 65 watts,you wanna hear how the Clash "rock" your more than welcome to stop by.

I second the recommendations of both the Joseph Audio Pulsars, and getting active ATCs. Both great choices for what you are looking for. I also have a pair of SP Tech Minis that I would put in that category, but they are no longer being made and don't show up used too often.