What is your experience with amp power?

In this home office setup, I’ve come to really appreciate 2 pairs of fairly large, sealed 2-way speakers. Both are relatively inefficient, as most sealed/acoustic suspension speakers are. So on the rare occasions when I really crank the system, having lots of watts matters. There’s definitely a benefit to big, strong amps that loaf along at <10%-15% capacity even at peak volumes (ie, if good sound = a good power supply, it’s an unstressed, high-capacity PS that one is hearing).

But at other times when lots of watts aren’t needed, it’s down to how well designed and voiced the amp is; how carefully the components were selected for sonic as well as electronic properties; how robust the PS is; the quality of circuit layout and wiring...all the audio verities. Spending lots of money on an amp isn’t a guarantee of good sound, but I suspect really good sound becomes more commonplace with the bigger, heavier, more expensive amp designs.

@arcticdeth 

I have read many summaries that said that too little power is the bane of audio systems a can fry speakers. I have tended to use amps above the max recommended for the speakers I owned… admittedly not cranking them to ultra high levels. I have never had a problem with power… speakers or amps.

But, @arcticdeth story is what I have repeatedly heard is possible.

The power of audio amplifiers

The best and most complete article ever written about the power of audio amps With focus on hifi.

I’ve been in this hobby for 40+ years and have owned many different systems.I have extremely high powered class A/B amps is my system and I’ve always owned extremely inefficient speakers that I prefer to listen to at moderate volume levels in a medium size room. Back in the day I owned a set of Thiel CS 7.2 that I tried to power  with a Threshold T400 (150 watts per channel class A amp). The speakers could play loud but lacked dynamics and sound stage. I had to use a Pass X600 to energize the speakers at moderate volume. Since then my speakers have changed but I’ve continued to use extremely high powered amps. So to answer your vague question, I believe speaker performance is highly dependent on the amp and the room. Personally, I’d use a lower powered Class A amp if I had more efficient speakers. 

Our custom tube monoblocks (75 lbs. with massive pi filtered power supply) put out about 100 watts each into our nominal 6 ohm 87dB NorthCreek crossovered B&W Matrix 801 Series 2 speakers. Our nearest neighbor’s house is about a 1/4 mile away. One day mrs. x and I were celebrating being alive with the volume knob and some of our Jimmy Buffet vinyl. A couple of days later at at the mailbox I ran into mr. neighbor who commented on how great our Jimmy Buffet concert sounded. He said he and mrs. neighbor enjoyed it with margaritas on their porch :)

The amps drive the speakers just fine.