That "tube sound" and power ratings

Jmcgrogan2 - you missed the point of the rhetorical question. were you really laughing out loud?

Swampwalker - define "appropriate"

Zkzpb8 - you got the point of the non-rhetorical question. thank you and nice response!

everyone else - i am listening to whatever I can as much as I can every other day or so. there's only so much time though, so your answers might sway me in the direction of more lower powered tube amp listening.

If you have relatively efficient speakers (89 to 90db or around there) and a relatively powerful amp that's not one of those tiny wattage esoteric gizmos, you can stop worrying and simply enjoy the damn thing. If the amp doesn't hum or explode and is made by a company that isn't insane, and it sounds good, you're only going to be using about 5 watts most of the time. Seriously...I use a classic old school (but new design with better than old amp innards) push pull amp with something like 65 watts per side and, fortunately, all of the watts sound great...who knew? One thing experienced guitar players have learned from tube amps is they all sound somewhat different from each other, and often WAY different based on output tubes, input tubes, yo mama...etc...but reasonably well made hifi tube stuff often defies the techno bullshit schools of design trendiness and simply works. Try one.

Cool to hear that you're checking out different gear - have fun listening. Some lower powered amps can bring some magic- but one limiting factor could be with music that is more dynamic. Sometimes too much compression can set in and instead of enhancing the sound, the amp will act more as a limiter...

"Probably... A lot of what people like is the compression and fatness that occurs when an underpowered tube amp is over driven"

That's a very good point and a great example of how the best technical performance in terms of accuracy does not always win.