How much is too much...

- tube or solid state.....personal prefence here...tubes generally require more maintance.. alot has to do with matching it to your speakers...space, and power ( good point - better to have to much than too little)

-relability.. buy from a reliable mfg... chances are you might need service (higher for tube gear)and a mfg that has a good reputation for service and relabilty is REALLY important... if tubes, i would suggest to go with a really long term mfg with a great reputation ( BAT, ARC, Quicksilver) and not a start up company..

single end / dual differential inputs - important to optimize your connections and topology (for true balanced) and iec connection for power cords

impedence- should be considered to match with the pre-amp.

current capability - 100 wpc from a krell/classe/pass is going to have a differnt presenation than 100 wpc from a rotel/parasound/adcom. with that being said 100 wpc from most tube amps will even have more current than a good solid state amp (except the bass -"generally speaking")

mono block vs stereo - depending on load, design, and budget...mono blocks "generally" sound better and look really cool

there are more points - hope this helps out

Yes, my opinion does not matter... to anyone but me.

Most problems occur at the frequency extremes. Most amps do the midrange pretty good but can have shrill HF or bass can be weak or boom.

this is the problem a really good amp that would support a rms of 200 watts (which is suppose to stop clipping) is very expensive. Which is fine but I dont wanna over pay if 100watts would do just fine. The speakers that I may buy are the QUAD 22L or Triangles Antals not sure yet. My listening room is 25'10" X 13'3" with 8' 6" ceiling height.

Hi Thegoldenear, although I have not personally heard either one of the speakers you mentioned above, I would strongly suggest that you go with efficient speakers if you don't want to invest in costlier amps that are over 100 watts per channel. I am guessing that the above mentioned speakers are efficient?

In regards to amplification I would have to agree with Banksfriend, once you buy speakers, try different amps to see what sound best suits you. That is why Audiogon exists, you can buy & sell till you find what your looking for. If you were to run a thread on whats the best amplifier, you will get at least a 100 different answers. If I could take the best attributes of each different amp I have heard and combine them into one amp I would have the perfect amplifier. For the forementioned reasons, set rules don't apply.

The best suggestion I can make is, do your research and read the reviews on any given amp to get an idea what most people think, what speakers their using & try to avoid impulse buying which can be a tall order for some of us. But if push comes to shove I would recommend Odyssey (Germany's Symphonic Line but USA made) or the McCormacks (The iron fist in a velvet glove), both being well reviewed, and well loved by many audiophiles without breaking the bank. Also I love the newer Mcintosh but a little spendier.