how does current work in an amplifier?

Yeah, Tony, That's why I doubled the 8vac I saw flicker by, TO 16v for my calculations.
I am well aware of power factor and the math involved. cosine of the angle and all. I've been a 'fan' of that approach to evaluating speakers as 'good' or 'bad' load for quite a while. Tube amps, for example simply do not like certain reactive loads......I don't 'member if it is capacitive or inductive......

People are stuck in the impedance / sensitivity paradigm for 'goodness' of load and usually fail to consider reactance.... / power factor.

And, from our FWIW department, a good cheap addition to your kit may be the purchase of a 'kill-a-watt' meter. Reads out KWH, voltage, PF, Watts / VA and current. Not bad for 25$

Anyway, I may have simplified the math, but in principle I think I'm right. People do not need these wacky current ratings which are 1. meaningless 2. not measured to a standard.
People also use far less power than they think they need. I doubt I've ever been more than about 15% of my amps RMS rating. Most people also really love their 'd' amps and the artificially hi power rating. The ASP1000 module, for example has only a 30 second rating while my ASP500 module has a 60 second rating. Even counting a 10x crest factor, I doubt I've even approach 200 watts total output....and that is LOUD.

AHHHHH! Atmo:
Good answer! Also, tube amps are considered a 'current source', right?
So the right speaker for a tube amp differs from the right speaker for a SS amp.

That's why the 'comparison' threads between tube and SS are not quite......meaningful.

I'd LOVE to hear a 100x2 tube amp with my panels. I'll bet it'd work just fine, thank you very much!

That is a perfect conclusion Magfan and Atma. Speakers and amps work as a pair. And I agree with Atma that speaker impedances dropped when SS became more common. High impedance, high efficiency speakers with a tube amp is probably the most cost effective quality sound/dollar. And here I am sitting at the opposite end of the spectrum with a massive amp, low impedance speakers. It sounds great, but I have to alert the power company whenever I plan to crank it up:)

Tony, except that tube amps tend to be more expensive and high effiency speakers tend to need help extending the bass, which doesn't come cheap either.

I've heard Maggies and tube amps work very well together.

The dealer did use a REL sub also though however.

I would strongly consider a tube amp were I to reacquire a pair of Maggies someday.

My caveat is tube amps and Maggies are both relatively finicky solutions in terms of what is needed to optimize results, so you have to be willing to deal with that.