Differences in sound as related to watts?

All things taken into consideration, efficient speakers are going to yield a bigger soundstage near-field without bursting your ear-drums. Inefficient speakers need space and lots of power.

In reading through the thread I don't see where there's a consensus about speakers. Although several people have asked you to explain what you mean by "big sound".

I appreciate all the help. It seems that the concensus is speakers. I remember sometime ago hearing B&Ws that sounded big. Can anyone comment on that. Thank you.

Generally, very generally, more watts means means tighter, not bigger.

Yeah efficiency and your room size and how loud you play.More likely to damage speaker by clipping an amp than running it with price greater than recommended rage though this has it's limits of course.But point about say lager "sound stage" isn't going to happen with same speakers and more power necessarily.But some speakers though like Maggie's,Sonus Faber's,B&W's etc can run on "X" but when you feed them copious amounts of power they come into their own.
Chazz

"But I think to get a "Big Sound", you need "big speakers"

I agree in general. You need this in particular for the low end. Using subs is a good strategy to lower cost and fit smaller speakers otherwise into a particular room. Large speakers are often not a good choice for smaller rooms in that they are hard to place optimally and imaging, detail and sound stage accuracy can suffer listening to many larger multi driver designs nearfield. So you need to fit the system to the room and make sure the amp is able to drive the speakers optimally at desired volumes.

What exactly does ‘bigger sound’ mean to you?

Louder? Larger sound stage? Bigger images?

There is such a thing as too big, btw. When things become disproportional the mind will work harder setting things to order and listening can become tedious.

There’s also too loud, Btw…. Regardless the ease with which the music is being delivered… SPL is SPL. Your ears don’t care how sweet the sound is and it could wind up being like sitting on the beach during an overcast or partly cloudy day with a steady 10 – 12 knot breeze… you get a bad burn then, but you don’t feel the heat doing it.

Later on you will.

The relationship between efficiency and power is predictable. Impedance will play a good part in it too. there are charts online which will define how much power is required for exactly which SPL at a speakers rated eff.

Your room alone will dictate to what degree or just how large a sound you’ll be able to get away with more than anything else. In this instance… I’ve found little predetermined info regarding what sized speaker for what sized room… but it seems more a coincidental or intuitive aspect than anything else.

EX. Focal grand utopias in a 10x12x8 room probably isn’t a very good match…. Or a pr of stand mounted two ways in a 30x25x14 room likely isn’t going to satisfy…. Regardless the amps driving them.

Shoehorning too much squeakerage into a room will congest the sound, too little will lean it out.

Power itself plays a far lesser role than does the room, yet each have significant roles.

If I understand "bigger sound," then louder is not the same thing. More watts will give you louder, but not bigger. To my ears a big or full sound is accomplished with a balanced, flat frequency response. Too often speakers have a boosted mid-bass and lower treble. This causes the upper bass and lower midrange, the "meat and potatoes" part of the spectrum, to sound relatively weak. Making everything louder will not flatten the response.

Some people equate bigger/fuller to a more resonant sound that 'fills' in the gaps. Either way, I think this is a speaker issue, not the amp. Take some time, do more listening to other systems and speakers. This will help you learn how to get the 'big' sound you want.

Orpheus10...
I too wanted a "Bigger Sound", and in a very unconventional,
yet very effective means to accomplish this goal, with
tremendous success.

Far, Beyond what I ever expected...

Most will laugh, but the proof as they say,

"is in the Listening!"

Natural is key for me, I sought to preserve the
real sound of each instrument, Power brings "clarity",

at the minimum setting, the room is filled with sound
evenly.

One of the single greatest compliments was when
a fellow music lover was over listening, and stopped me,
and stated, "I could fall asleep here, listening All day!"

Without Any listener "fatigue".

That is exactly how I wanted it to be.

Simply put: I went to JBL Synthesis site, and sort of
borrowed their methodology in a way, to fill my room.

From the "Atlas" configuration...
"FROM 2,000 TO 25,000 CUBIC FEET
57 to 707 CUBIC METERS
3840 WATTS
94dB HIGH FREQUENCY
96dB LOW FREQUENCY"

I use 3 Velodyne, with Tremendous results, and

they really are not "audibly obvious" either.

Power is not a problem, for me, and I used some Pro

speakers that reach the 120db. level easily if needed.

I mostly listen at the minimum setting.

But I think to get a "Big Sound", you need "big speakers"

there is no way around that, IMHO that is.

Speakers set all around the listener, so as to loose

the "directionality" of the sound.

Audio Results: Beyond my expectations.

Synergy=Music

It may look weird, but the sound, "must be heard, to

believe."

I Love Music!

You have to look at speaker efficiency as well, sound level depends on both.

You'll have to tell what you have now + general room size.