"Power hungry" speakers

I am running b+w 801s which are said to be power hungry.I can tell you that I tried a 170 watt bryston amplifier and it drove the speakers to earth shattering levels.You must remember that 99% of the time your speakers are only using a few watts(usually less then 20 to be sure).I think this "POWER" thing has been very much over stated.99.9% of the time a 25 watt amp would do the job.However it is when the large dynamic swings take place that one could use more power...the differnce between a 300 watt amp and a 600 watt amp is only 3 db (for every 3 db increase then double the power is required)...so the difference between a 150 watt amp and a 300 watt amp is miniscule...

I am well aware of what distortion represents.I can assure you that I heard very loud spl at low distortion lvls..I am not saying that a bigger amp isn't more desireable.But to get sound pressure lvls it is simple to figure out and NO...A few watts won't give it to you very very high spls as you have suggested..that is unless you speakers are extrememly efficient..ie.a speaker with 88bd efficiency goes as follows
1 watt= 87 db
2 watts=90 db
4 watts=93 db
8 watts=96 db
16 watts=99 db
32 watts=102 db
64 watts=105 db
128 watts=108 db
256 watts=111 db
512 watts=114 db
1024 watts=117 db
So ,I think the person who started this thread can see from the above what power is required to do what.Bottom line is this..Unless you have extremely inefficient speakers or you listen at very high levels then a 600 watt amp is not a must have.I am not saying it isn't better to have the power but if money is an issue etc then don't get too hung up on the wattage ...

Well room etc ...all play a roll...I do not disagree with what you are saying but I think you know what I am getting at