Do they make Speakers For Rap/Rock


It seems that from all the discussions and reveiws, I have read that 99% of the speakers that are reveiwed are done with Classical, opera, jazz or other like music. My question is; Do any of the high end speaker manufacturers make audiophile speakers that are designed for the Rap, Hip-hop, hard rock, loud volume listener???
tacmc5
Those are tough questions since I really don't know your preferences.

The JBL I mentioned is not exactly audiophile quality but it is a very well made speaker and many rock and jazz concerts have been performed through lesser gear.

The reason I mentioned a commercial speaker is that lots of high end speakers will do loud, only up to a point. They are at risk if anything goes wrong. Something as simple as a connector pulled out during a crazy night of dancing or someone decides to grab the knob and "crank it." When this happens it's much more difficult to blow up a sound reinforcement speaker (than say) a Dynaudio.

An audiophile speakers ability to recreate nuances is their strength and with the music your describing, along with a large room and all out party, your not looking for nuance. Nothing wrong with having both kinds of speakers if you have the space and budget.

In fact, there was this dance club in Manhattan we went to late one night after the Stereophile show. There was this little brunette dancing soooo perfect to the super loud dance mixes. Of course she was not much older than my teenage son, but HEY, I was just looking :^).

Anyway, you likely need to visit some commercial sound places and see if that suits you. I was not kidding, you could buy some nice dance floor speakers and have enough money left over for audiophile speakers that do justice to rock at reasonably loud levels.

My Dali Megalines will do well over 100 DB with the 3KW of VTL tube amps I have on them. I choose these amps not for volume, but for their "voice." That particular amp matched up with the speaker and gave me the balance and dynamics I wanted.

The Dali will NOT compete with the JBL 4894-90 in hanging around the dance floor and blowing away your friends. I occasionally crank mine but mostly they play at 72 to 88 DB.

I think the JBL or other good commercial speaker might surprise you with the right electronics. They would never be right for classical, but that's not what your looking for, right?
You might take a look at Meyer Sound products, the high end in sound reinforcement speakers these days as far as I know. I believe the Glacier Audio network sells them. It's also possible that the larger, powered ATC models will give you what you want, or get you close. And they should sound very very good.
If you're looking for a temp system that you can set up just for the party, how about something like a powered Mackie spkr?

If something more like a standard type system, I like the sound of EAW spkrs and Emilar horns. For power you can use a stack of QSC amps & to avoid somebody cranking the system to destruction, set some limiters for max SPL's. This is a "party system" and nobody will be doing any critical listening with this stuff.

Lot's of good sources for this type of gear other than on-line. You might check the local music stores & bulletin boards there, as bands are always selling gear & local ads in trading post & local paper.
As Albert notes, 115 db spl is VERY loud: placing spkrs @ the "dance" area, you'll still have to shout rather than talk to people at the other end of your space (the full bar) UNLESS you hide behind a wall -- or other serious obstruction. As an example, ~120db spl is a jet taking off at yr back yard, so to speak.
ALSO, the "better" the spkr the more you (and yr guests) will be able to stand that spl and enjoy...

SO: you still need spkrs capable of ~120db spl continuous.

This long introduction serves only to confirm and ratify the easy choices mentioned above:

a) professional speakers rather than "audiophile". Most of the latter will disintegrate @ 120db spl continuous.

b) don't go far, check out JBL, Meyer Sounds, ATC active (200 come to mind). The ATC can't quite reach 120db but come close enough.

c) Meyer & ATC are expensive: ATC will do large orchestral (if there's interest) better than the Meyer. Well set up Meyers could very well play you Black-eyed peas better than the Black-eyed peas themselves expected...:)

d) As Albert implies, JBL are good: VERY experienced in driver, spkr design and production. Don't let their commercial aspect fool you into thinking they produce crap.

e) another brand you may wish to consider is Klipsh (the Klipshorn). It can flirt with 120db -- BUT they need TWO room corners for placement and they are passive. This is a possible "audiophile" speaker choice -- but again, nowhere near the spl capability of the others (for example, the quietest of the bunch, the ATC, are rated @~118db spl CONTINUOUS).
Cheers