How much power is to much power?


When is an amp overkill for a speaker? More specifically, I have 91db speakers and I'm considering two SS amps, one 140 watts and the other 200 watts. Are they both too much? Is it too much simply because you're paying for extra power but don't need it, or because it's a detriment to the overall system sound?

Thanks.
128x128jtnicolosi
For some audiophiles and some politicians:
To much power you say?
"No such thing" they answer
There's something to be said for effortless sound....1800 watts a side. But it is a two edged sword....you can waste a tweeter. I know...years ago I played Copland's "theme for a common man". Cranked er up and the gong toasted a tweeter....learned my lesson.....Kinda like jumping on a Porsche turbo with the HP on the lurk....bad idea.
Read carefully and keep it as your guide:
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/manufacture/0708/index.html

All The Best
Rafael
Great info here everyone. I think I know what direction to take... the good thing about buying used is I can always resell without taking much of a loss. I'll update you.

Joe
What does "more control of bass" mean? If you meant sufficient current to drive the bass woofers without more distortion, then it is equivalent to a higher SPL. If you meant a higher damping factor, then it is independent to the wattage anyway.

I have learned the following things recently.

I bought my current speakers, JMlab Alto Utopia, with the impression that they are easy to drive: 91dB and 8ohm load. But my KT88 monoblocks, 50wpc, couldn't drive them well. Upon more investigation, I found the speaker impedance drops to 3.2ohms. This means that bass will need 2.5X more power than the mid-range.

Then I bought a Counterpoint SA100 and upgraded it to NP100. Note that NP100 has several upgrade levels and they all have the same rating, 100Wpc into 8ohm and 170Wpc into 4ohm, with a damping factor around 40. I have tried the following upgrade levels: Basic, Basic Gold, Premium Gold, and Platinum. They sound *very* different even though they all have the same outout ratings.

So what have I learned?

1. The matching between power amp and speakers is very important.
2. The amp rating can be misleading at times.