In my understanding, you would want to balance what the amp can output to what the speaker can handle. speed3 is right in that it is perfectly fine to send more power to the speakers than what their max is rated at. How much more, I can’t say. Maybe someone else would be able to advise more on this. It is very important to make sure the sound coming in is very clean (high signal to noise right?). Also, if you want high volume from the speakers with less amp power, find some speakers with high SPL levels. As mentioned before Klipsch is a very good brand for that. I liked Klipsch Reference towers when I listened to them, but I didn’t get them because I liked Mirage better. Super-high volume was not a goal of mine. I wouldn’t mind it, but I don’t need it.

How’s this for opening up a can of worms? Bose 901 SPL=106. I think stating this is living more dangerously than watching Donnie Darko don’t you Smart Little Lena? The dad of a friend of mine had them and he said you could hear them from several blocks (not houses) away. From what I’ve heard Outlaw amps have the very LEAST power you would want to send to them. They’ll take 450 Watts at 8 ohms. I can’t really comment on their sound quality, as I have not heard them in the best settings. I have exchanged the 701 set I had bought for Mirage OM-5 though. My friend is absolutely nuts about their clarity. Matching up an entire surround system to them would be kind of tough though.

[This message has been edited by BenjaminRigby (edited October 23, 2002).]