I'm new to the forum, and Im sure its already been brought up, but being a sci-fi fan I've seen countless fictional spaceships blow up in space with a loud explosion and flames. Is there anyway to recreate that on a smaller scale in a vacuum to show what an explosion would look like in space?

Not so that it would look good. Large vacuum chambers are hard to find.

If you want to see an explosion in space, take a look at the NASA films of the rockets when they are separating stages. You can see the explosive bolts fire. You get a flash, then debris shooting away from the point of the explosion.

Of course, there are also pictures of high altitude nuclear tests. Nice, round fireballs in space.

Nature sometimes serves one up. You might go look at pictures of the Crab Nebula, which is the remnant from a supernova in the year 1054. The gas just spreads out in a cloud unless there's something in the way. Ditto for the much smaller explosions we call solar flares.

No atmosphere (or other medium to transmit the shockwave) = no sound heard. It's just for our enjoyment that we get to hear all those nice sound effects.