For my next setup my goal, crazy as it sounds, is to put over twice as much power to each driver as its RMS ratings, get amps with max input sensitivity settings that are a little bit higher than my head unit's voltage output, and leave all gains at or near their minimums. I don't think over powering or underpowering does anything in and of itself to blow a speaker, it's what the user does with amp and gain controls. Either they overcompensate when things aren't loud enough or do not compensate appropriately if they're feedings their speakers more than what they need. Give a 150 watt speaker 300 wats, back off some on the gains, and know your drivers will have every ounce of power they can use everywhere in the volume range without you having to tweak or overlap the gain or anything else that takes away from pure maximum output in order to get loud at normal listening levels. For those rare musical peaks that come at or near the head unit's peak voltage, you still have power to spare to reproduce them clearly and free of distortion and you don't have to sacrifice peak performance to get them as loud as you want in normal listening. And yes, I believe loudness is important even in SQ applications because the music has to get loud enough for you to clearly perceive and appreciate the details. In an underpowered system it's not that you sacrifice clarity but that you can't hear it as well.
RMS power rating does not mean that's all a speaker needs, and it also doesn't mean that's all a speaker can take in normal listening levels. It's a reference point, determining what's the strongest amplified test tone you can feed it continuously without killing it, that gives you a general idea of what it's mechanical and thermal limits will be when stressed. It will NEVER see those conditions while playing music at normal listening levels though it may come close for brief instances. In fact it never sees any specific amount of power for more than a second or two at any one time. If it's rated to take 150 watts and it sees over 200 for a few seconds in each song nothing bad is going to happen. If it's rated for 40 watts and you put 250 to it there is a higher likelihood that it will get at or above its RMS rating for more extended periods.
If you have comps rated for 120 watts or more and you know how to work the gain dial I see no problem throwing 2 or 2.5 times rated power at them. Just get speakers with power ratings of 100 watts or higher which are generally designed to have higher limits under normal listening and watch the gain dial. All it will mean is you'll get the loudness you need at more normal listening levels and will probably actually stress them and the rest of your system less.
RMS power rating does not mean that's all a speaker needs, and it also doesn't mean that's all a speaker can take in normal listening levels. It's a reference point, determining what's the strongest amplified test tone you can feed it continuously without killing it, that gives you a general idea of what it's mechanical and thermal limits will be when stressed. It will NEVER see those conditions while playing music at normal listening levels though it may come close for brief instances. In fact it never sees any specific amount of power for more than a second or two at any one time. If it's rated to take 150 watts and it sees over 200 for a few seconds in each song nothing bad is going to happen. If it's rated for 40 watts and you put 250 to it there is a higher likelihood that it will get at or above its RMS rating for more extended periods.
If you have comps rated for 120 watts or more and you know how to work the gain dial I see no problem throwing 2 or 2.5 times rated power at them. Just get speakers with power ratings of 100 watts or higher which are generally designed to have higher limits under normal listening and watch the gain dial. All it will mean is you'll get the loudness you need at more normal listening levels and will probably actually stress them and the rest of your system less.
