Watts and power


Can somebody break it down in layman's terms for me? Why is it that sometimes an amp that has a high watt rating (like, say, a lot of class D amps do) don't seem to always have the balls that much lower rated A or AB amps do? I have heard some people say, "It's not the watts, it's the power supply." Are they talking about big honkin' toroidal transformers? I know opinions vary on a speaker like, say, Magnepans - Maggies love power, right? A lot of people caution against using class D amps to drive them and then will turn around and say that a receiver like the Outlaw RR2160 (rated at 110 watts into 8 ohms) drives Maggies really well! I'm not really asking about differences between Class D, A, or AB so much as I am asking about how can you tell the POWER an amp has from the specs? 
redstarwraith
@audiozenology.....thanks for the feedback.  I don't comment on here much.....too much back and forth banter.  So I just read and form my own opinion.  I've become a lot more 'tech savvy' than I used to be.  There's a guy  on CL selling this Proton 'beast'.  What's your impression of the review?  He wants $750 for it. I know they are rare. Not trying to hijack this thread....haha  Judging from your answer, you like the Proton specs I'm guessing.  http://www.hifi-classic.net/review/proton-d1200-165.html
sejodiren
There’s a guy on CL selling this Proton ’beast’. What’s your impression of the review? He wants $750 for it.

This if in good working order >25 years old now (any bad caps have been renewed) it should be a good BJT (bi-polar) amp, at least if the specs are right (typo 175w should be 275w), and increases it’s wattage substantially for each halving of impedance all the way to 2ohms. BTW nice twin R-Core transformer also.
"The D1200’s output clipped at rms
155 watts into 8 ohms
275 watts into 4 ohms
350 watts into 2 ohms

With peaks of
593 watts - 8ohms
1,187watts - 4ohms
1,800 watts - 2ohms,

Here is a great video test clip this guy did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL8R-vJRo54&feature=youtu.be


Cheers George
@georgehifi ....thx!  Yea, I've seen that video and specs when I was researching some Proton amps.  Mind boggling!  A tech with 40+ years exp had told me about them when I was looking for info on the Dahlquists.  Said he'd owned several sets and had powered them with Bryston, Carver, PL and the Ampzilla.  Said the Proton sounded better than any of them.  I figured since we're talking low power, high current....I'd ask.  Appreciate the info