Conventional wisdom is correct in stating that sound, as we commonly understand it (as pressure waves in a medium like air or water), cannot travel through the vacuum of space because there is no medium for it to propagate. In the absence of molecules or atoms to compress and propagate vibrations, sound cannot travel through space as we know it.
However, you mentioned gravitational shock waves, which are a different phenomenon altogether. Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of spacetime itself, predicted by Albert Einstein's theory of General Relativity. They are produced by the acceleration of massive objects, such as merging black holes or neutron stars.
Gravitational waves are fundamentally different from sound waves because they do not require a medium to propagate. Instead, they travel through the fabric of spacetime, unaffected by the vacuum of space. When these waves pass through an observer (like the Earth), they cause a distortion in spacetime, which can be detected by extremely sensitive instruments like LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory).
The detection of gravitational waves is a monumental achievement in physics, and it has provided us with a new way to observe and study the cosmos. However, it's important to emphasize that gravitational waves are not experienced as sound in the traditional sense. The signals detected by gravitational wave detectors are usually converted into audible tones for visualization purposes, but these sounds are simply artistic representations and have no direct connection to sound waves as we perceive them in our atmosphere.
In summary, while gravitational waves are fascinating phenomena that can be detected and studied using advanced technology, they are not sound waves and cannot be experienced as sound in the traditional sense due to the absence of a medium for sound propagation in the vacuum of space.