Big 2 channel Amp OR Smaller 6 channel and TRIamp?

How about you bi-amp, with 200 wpc for the woofers and then use a second amp for the mids/tweets and jumper them? You could, for example, get a 150-200 wpc 5-channel amp and leave the center channel idle.

02-20-12: Kr4
...
Jumper what? Why? Cannot think of a jumper in this situation that would not create the potential for a short.

Kal

The OP mentioned that it has Tri-amp binding posts. The only way I've seen this is with three pairs of binding posts jumpered together (e.g., as with the MIrage OMD-28 which I am familiar with). When removed, the three pairs feed the woofer(s), midrange, and tweeter, respectively. So I'm saying remove the jumpers between the woofer and midrange, but leave the midrange-to-tweeter jumpers intact. Then use one amp to drive the woofers alone and a second amp to drive the mids/tweets which are jumpered together.

If the factory jumpers are one-piece bars that connect all three, remove them and insert jumpers to connect only the mids and tweets.

02-20-12: Eldartford
Kal... I guess I would prefer option A, which, as I understand it simply means using a 300 watt amp for the speaker.

I don't see any advantage to using more than one amp unless there is a line level crossover.

Headroom reduces risk of clipping.

Well, there's still an advantage to bi-amping straight into the speaker's passive crossovers because bass-heavy passages still won't use up all available power and current, leaving little for the mids and tweets. With a separate amp for the woofers, the mids and tweets have a fuller dynamic range unhampered by power and current being siphoned off by the needs of the woofers.

I have had a pair of dual-terminal Mirage M5si's for nearly 16 years, and have ampified them with a wide variety of configurations. I've tried everything but line-level crossovers. Passive bi-amping with high-current amps has the most speed, transparency, frequency extension, and dynamic range, especially compared to single-amping, though bi-wiring helps.

Even if you decide on a single high-powered amp, you should probably still bi-wire and maybe even tri-wire.