Can an amp overdamp a speaker?

In the purely hypothetical sense, no. Damping factor is like distortion . . . in absolute terms, there are specs that are better and there are specs that are worse . . . in the case of damping factor, higher is better, and in the case of distortion, lower is better.

But they are both woefully inadequate in terms of measuring an amplifier's sound quality, and completely worthless as published specifications. There are both great-sounding and terrible-sounding amps with high damping factors and with low damping factors.

Looking at the specs on the Totem I think you'll have no problem. The little boogers are 4 ohm and fairly low efficiency. The 4 ohm resistance actually lowers the effective damping of the whole amp/cable/speaker system. In general, damping is less important with a smaller number of smaller drivers, but it'll still be a positve.

The Belles' 500 watts into 4-ohm is not an issue. Just set the volume by ear and you won't blow anything up or fry your tweeters.

I'm sure you've thought of this, but you'll need excellent sources and cables or that setup will reveal any shortcomings.

Let us know how you like it after you've got it set up.

Dave

Thanks for the replies.
Of course making decisions based solely on damping or specs is foolish. But the more information I have, the more I can whittle down my huge list. Funny though, the list is getting bigger, not smaller. Now I'm looking at Bel Canto's line of e.one amps. Particularly the 300 series.