Too Much Power

Overkill in some cases perhaps but with modern amp technology no real downside, all else held constant, at least these days. It’s like an oversized engine in a car. Worst case you are paying for an insurance policy. In years past, extreme size, heat and weight were common downsides.

Too much class A power creates unnecessary heat.  In a class D amp (or generally class AB) there is no real practical drawback. 

You might find that an amp that is designed to put out 600 wpc didn't focus its design on making the first 5 watts (where you will be listening the most) the best that they can be.  I currently use a 6 wpc amp, just for that reason.

The power rating of 600 wpc into 8 ohms and 1200 wpc into 4 ohms is the mark of a good quality amp… as far as power. Also, there is no such thing as too much power…. Assuming you don’t crank up a little set of speakers to ridiculous volumes.

However, there is a question of the sound quality of the amp… each amp type independent of power has a character (design type and importantly the designer)... is that the character you want? For me, high quality tube amps give me the quality of sound that I want. So, it would be hard to afford an amp with that much power… on the other hand, my amp produces 140wpc in linear mode and 70 wpc in triode mode. My Sonus Faber Amati Traditional sound best with the lower 70 wpc triode power.

So, as far as an amp… the character of the sound is most important… then, more power is better. 

i have a mcintosh mc602 amp with 600 watts per chanell at 2 ,4 and8 ohms!! where doe's my amp stand???

russ69 - Understood. Thanks.

ghdprentice - Thanks for insight.