When an amp puts out 90 watts....

"This is NOT the norm."

It's the norm for some people.

You might want to read more about this:
http://www.atma-sphere.com/Resources/Paradigms_in_Amplifier_Design.php

An amplifier does not have to double power to sound musical and to also have a lot of authority.

Yes, I knew it was a tube amp but did not know that was characteristic of all tube amps. I just finished reading a thread with posts by Atmasphere and Almarg and others about amp design and was reading a review about the Copeland amp. The statement about it putting out the same power confused me with all the other info I had just tried to absorb.

A lot of what they wrote about was way over my head but rather than just plead ignorance and let it go at that, I have decided to try to educate myself about amps, and specifically, matching amps to speakers.

I think part of the reason I don't like my system as much as I think I should be able to given the components, is that there may be a amp / speaker mismatch although I am experimenting with room placement and will be bringing in a different source soon enough.

Ralph, that link keeps appearing in other threads so I guess it is about time I dove in...Thanks.

You should have just said so. List your whole system and some basics on your room. I'm sure someone will be able to point you in the right direction. As far as room placement goes, thats a great place to start. You'll learn a lot just doing that alone.

Rrog: It is the "norm" for me and, because it matters in my system, it's why I have a Krell 400cx driving my Thiel CS6s. My point was that the vast majority of amps do no comply with the doubling of power by the halving of impedance from the incrementals of 8 to 4 to 2 Ohms. Only a handful of manufacturers install power supplies robust enough to do this.