Is there such a thing as too much power?

Hee hee, Sell me your Onkyo?

Hello,
I thought it was important to use at least 25% of the preamp. I had a marsh Sound Design A400s which is 200 WPC-push pull. I always thought is was a little under detailed unless you really turned it up. I switched to the 100 wpc version and it sings like a canary even at very low volume. My speakers are 89 efficiency. I had three of the A400s amps so I had three to test. I love all car’s so I understand the examples. I really love Ferrari’s and Mustangs. I wish Mustangs could get that horsepower to the wheels. For some reason the 350 was always faster than the 500. Lighter and more control on the throttle I don’t know. I truly love my system now. Sorry, no one was talking about the preamp or maybe using a TT with it as a source which I thought was important. 

Many years ago, I went to a dealer to audition amplifiers to use with my Acoustat 1+1 speakers.  The dealer, who had sold me my pair, had a big Rowland amp hooked up to his 1+1 speakers.  It sounded okay, but it didn't really quite do it for me.  He then switched in a smaller Rowland amp that was built on a similar design, used the same type of transistors, but, only put out something like 50 watts.  I actually liked the smaller amp more--it seemed more lively.  I admit that I am not a deep bass freak and the Acoustats would not be able to deliver deep bass anyway, but, in other respects, the lower wattage version of the particular design worked better for me.

Sure more power is better , for some speakers.  I have begun to gravitate towards higher sensitivity speakers along with higher quality electronics.   That recipe has worked well.  I have been using the same 40 w PP mono amps for five years with several pairs of speakers that are easy to drive . I love those amps and swap speakers out every now and then

I subscribe to the “First Watt” school of thought .   

McIntosh Amps, power indicator meters, if showing a scale of watts, hardly move. That is literally the first watt. Juice the volume all the way up to reach/show avg. 5 watts, lots of sound!

You need to push a button, change/minimize the measurement scale to get them to actively move. They tell you a lot about how little power your speakers need, or how much, but still not much for inefficient ones.

They have a peak hold option on some meters, to show you how much (maximum) was needed for the most demanding part of that musical track.