30 to 50 watts seems to be all I desire

A couple of comments. First, the position of the volume control on the preamp doesn’t tell you how much power is being used by the speakers. One is at the mercy of the recording volume, the output of the source/DAC/preamp, plus the input sensitivity of the amp and the efficiency of the speakers. I’ve seen systems where having the volume knob at 4 or 5 o’ clock gives a modest volume and other setups where 9 or 10 o’clock is overly loud and distorted.

Also, playback volume and power needed in watts have a logarithmic relationship. A 3 dB increase in volume requires double the power. Twice as loud requires ten times the power.

Hence, one of the critical issues revolves around an individual’s max preferred listening level. Headbangers with inefficient speakers in a large room need a LOT of power. Others, like me, rarely break the mid-80s in terms of dBs.

Like the OP, I found that I simply don’t need a lot of power. My class A Schiit Aegir (40 w/ch at 4 ohms) gives me way more volume that I ever need. Of course, having a separately powered subwoofer takes a load off that amp and the main speakers.

The key is to experiment with what it takes to make YOU happy.

@dynamiclinearity said "Power is used for very, very short term transients which can be 20 to 30 dB"

This misrepresents what is actually on recordings. Over two decades, I transferred over 1,000 LPs -- from rock to classical -- from LP to digital format, so spent a lot of time watching loudness levels during the transfer, using Adobe Audition. I've never seen a recording where the average loudness level allowed for 20 or 30 dB peaks.

Now, lots of recordings have "dynamic range" in excess of 30 dB, but that includes the soft parts -- perhaps a solo instrument being softly played during an orchestral recording.  But, the quieter parts of a recording are supposed to be played at a soft level.  Those soft parts are well below the average level.

Then there are rock recordings where one often sees the average level almost at the max level permitted by the media -- one may be lucky to have 3 dB peaks in such recordings -- remember the loudness wars?

Simply put, if your average recorded level is -6 dB, there is simply no place to put a 30 dB peak transient.  If it existed in the live music, its been lopped off in the recording. LPs are slightly different from digital recordings, but they also have their limits, too.

In short, to have a 30 dB peak transient on a digital recording, the average playback level would have to be 30 dB down. There aren't very many recordings that meet that criteria.