What amp (amplifier) recommendations would you give if I have a pair of 1000 watt speakers?

Question

I bought a pair of 1000 watt speakers that have been sitting in the box and are basically used as a stand for my cable modem/router and audio interface merely because I have yet to purchase a suitabkle amplifier to power them. Can anyone enlighten me as to what you would recommend I power them with? I would appreciate any recommendations, though I am not looking to go overboard as these are my secondary speakers because I have pretty good quality studio monitors already.

Answer 1

Just because they may be rated at 1000W, which I promise is an exageration. That would have to be at a very short duation peak at a single freq. does not mean you need a large Amp. The efficiency rating and desired volume are more important.
Ex. A speaker with a rating of 89 Db @ 1W will require twice as much power as one rated 92 Db @ 1W. Each 3Db higher efficiency means you only need half the power for the same volume.
I would shop Ebay for a good deal on something like an older Denon or Luxman. I just saw an older Radio Shack Amp going pretty cheap for 100W/ ch. Decent Amp with enough power for plenty of volume.

Answer 2

Wattage ratings for speakers actually don't make a lot of sense since the number of watts required to drive them will vary with their input sensitivity. Depending on the room setup, the type of music you like to listen to, and the volume level that you enjoy, there are a huge number of amplification choices. Personally, I think the most important feature of any amplifier is the dynamic headroom available; many amps are rated at 100W per channel RMS but have very poor dynamic headroom. I have a Quad amp that's rated at 80W (nominal output into 8 ohms) but it offers 3dB of dynamic headroom - which is great for peak outputs. I'd suggest listening to some of the following brands and choose the sound that suits your taste best.
Quad
Naim
Carver
Linn
Meridian