Re: matching amp with speakers
The Big problem with all these Rules of Thumb for matching speaker systems with amplifiers is that there is a hugh It Depends factor.
It depends on the performance type because there is now a hugh difference in dynamics between live and recorded music.
It depends on the speakers in question since there is now a massive disparity in quality and power handling between cheap and expensive models.
These differences always existed but technology has raised the bar on driver power handling and excursion capability at the high end and it's hard to believe but I think at the other end of the spectrum speakers have gotten ever worse thanks to the influx of cheap copies from the far east. Then if we look at the state of amplification, up until recently they were designed to deliver sustained power levels and dynamic power was somewhat limited while current models are more focused on delivering more peak power with less ability for sustained power levels. Interestigly that is completely at odds with music trends, back when we had big heavy amps with high current reserves there was no EDM but now that amplifiers are increasingly light weight with increased dynamic output we have "music" with sustained synth tones in the power heavy bass region.
The bottom line is this is a much more complicated problem than it may first appear to be, it is possible to use an amplifier that is capable of generating more power than a speaker can handle but the operator has to have intimate knowledge of the power handling capabilities of the speakers in question and either setup appropriate limiting or simply leave the extra amp power as completely unused headroom. Problem is finding out just how much power any given speaker system can really handle long term often requires "destructive testing" such as Jimmy Harden described above.
