Power Uber Alles ?

My experience doesn't support "power uber alles" which is not to say big watts don't have a place.  I've got a Merrill Taranis, and Hegel H200 which are each spec'd at 200 or more wpc.  I enjoy listening to these driving Totem Forest or Silverline Prelude Plus speakers.  BUT the amp that is bringing the most enjoyment at the present time is a First Watt F7 (25 wpc).  Music sounds great using it to drive the Silverlines or Forests and it easily produces SPLs in the mid 80s and peaks in the upper 90s at 10-12 feet away with no sign of strain in a 19'x21' listening area (albeit, 7' ceilings).  With either speaker, the music's clarity, imaging and stage depth produced with the F7 seems superior to that produced by the other more powerful amplifiers.  

@erik_squires

have you experienced that bigger amps sound better, or is the overall quality of the amp more important.

The answer is yes.

@elizabeth made some good points I agree with,

“Everything has good points, and bad... they all have compromises.......No one size fits all, No one kind fits all. No ’easy answer’.”

My room is about 18 by 30 feet, with the system mainly projecting to an area with dimensions of about 18 by 22 feet. I have tried a bunch of amplifiers (still sort of looking) on speakers of 90 dB and currently 85 dB. What I have learned that works for me,
- Power matters, particularly if you want a dynamic presentation, in a larg’ish room, with moderately efficient speakers, and you don’t like your sound thin or tonally bleached
- The quality of the power matters too, and particularly the power supply - the ability to double power (or close) into halved impedances is one indicator
- Design implementation and quality of components matter too
- Low output impedance is helpful
- High input impedance is nice for flexibility, and critical if using a passive attenuator, but not necessary with most SS preamps
- Adding two high quality subs and removing the low bass burden from the main speakers was a good move for both amplifier performance and particularly for bass performance and flexibility
- There are significant sonic differences between even highly regarded Class AB, Class A, and Class D amplifiers that go beyond the heat issue. IME, Class AB is probably the most flexible for a wide range of music and listening preferences but each of those classes have their own sonic signature and which you like will depend on what you listen to and what sonic attributes are important to you.....sort of back to Elisabeth’s “no one size fits all”

+1 roberjerman / Nice amp!

Great question

I owned a pair of Emerald Physics monos (~ 275w/) with upgraded fuses for a couple of years

I got the bug and bought a Audio Alchemy stereo amp (~ 150w/) and was/am blown away. Much richer tones, deeper into the music and especially instruments. FYI, there's a pair of monos for sale right now in AG for $1700. I would grab those