Overpowered head?

Piece of cake. Many would recommend using a 1000W head to drive a 500W cab so when you're actually pushing 500W into the cab, the peaks that go above 500W are clean.

Back off if you hear distortion and you're pretty safe.

I've been running a 1500W amp into 2 500W speakers (1000W total) for years now without any problems.

Randy

 

I would say that is a pretty ideal setup. For reference I ran a single 200w 4x10 cab with a 900w amp a couple times without a problem. I wouldn't say that is ideal but trust me you'll know if your pushing it too hard.

 

The key is moderation. Listen to your speakers, and if they complain, back off on the volume. Clipping a 1000W amp is worse for your speakers than clipping a 350W amp. Keep it clean, and everything is fine.

 

SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, don't say that too loud!

 

Also - it depends what kind of poweramp you're using.
Some of the cheaper poweramps have very 'over-estimated' power ratings, like behringer for example.
So always make sure you've got about 100-200w spare on top of what you need if you're buying on a budget.