Unless you're throwing a loud block party, most amps put out enough power to permit listening to music or movies at pretty high volumes. As I've said many times, I have a Kenwood KA9100, rated at 95 wpc (x2), which has power meters. The KA9100 drives a pair of 87db Dahlquist DQM905s (spectacularly good speakers). This is part of my garage system, and I crank it up pretty good so I have tunes by which to wash my car. At almost painful volumes, the meters indicate 0.5-3 watts output. For the most part, unless you drive your solid state amps to clipping, any amp out there is sufficiently powerful to drive our efficient Axioms to earsplitting SPLs.
For those who believe that all solid state amps with similar architecture, output and specs sound the same, all I can say is, not mine.
Now, it isn't price dependent, in my case, even less so, because I buy a lot of used audio equipment.
Now, it takes living with an amp for a bit to discern its peculiar sound qualities. I rate them on the basis of the frequency of golden musical events an amp will put out.
"Golden musical events"? the objectivist/positivists mumble. Yes, wall of sound, soundstaging, air, decay, attack, slam, delicacy, detail, all the subtle qualities which really distinguish one amp from another.
For those who believe that everything they need to know about an amp is to be found in its Underwriters Laboratory tag, or published spec sheet, I know I will hear a chorus of mocking denial. That's fine.
None of my amps match my Antique Sound Labs MG SI 15DT (5wpc in SET mode). Next best is the antique Kenwood KA9100, then, not so easy to pick between the Integra M-504 and the Yamaha M-80s. I had a THX rated Kenwood KMX 1000, I thought it would be great because the old KA 9100 is so good. Hated it. Great specs though for those who think all you need to know about an amp can be found on a piece of paper.
Anyway, since your amp will probably spend most of its time putting out less than 1 watt per channel, if the first watt is no good, who cares how many more like it stand behind it.
