Depends on a lot of things. You need a lot of spare power/speaker capacity if you're doing things like slapping, produces some pretty intense transients. If you choose to go with less watts/speaker area during more polite stuff like fingerstyle, where you're using most of the rigs capacity, throw in some slapping or accents and you're overdriving something.
Having excess headroom means never having to replace speakers.... well, almost never. At least you won't be blowing them regularly. And running a 500W amp at 500 watts is a lot harder on the components than running a 1500 watt amp at 500w with speakers that can handle the full power, they're just cruising. Throw in a 1500 w spike in there once in a while is no problem. With a 500 watt amp, and speakers near max excursion, what should be a 1500 w spike is a potentially damaging event.
Especially important if you're getting married, and suddenly it isn't "your" money you're spending on musical gear anymore... Just sayin, make sure you're happy with your gear before you tie the knot.
I put together a little power meter way back when. Just found it in the basement, I'm going to recalibrate it to my current 1500 watt rig capacity, and keep an eye on it next gig. See exactly how many watts I'm really using out of the 1500. Sort of curious myself.
Randy
Having excess headroom means never having to replace speakers.... well, almost never. At least you won't be blowing them regularly. And running a 500W amp at 500 watts is a lot harder on the components than running a 1500 watt amp at 500w with speakers that can handle the full power, they're just cruising. Throw in a 1500 w spike in there once in a while is no problem. With a 500 watt amp, and speakers near max excursion, what should be a 1500 w spike is a potentially damaging event.
Especially important if you're getting married, and suddenly it isn't "your" money you're spending on musical gear anymore... Just sayin, make sure you're happy with your gear before you tie the knot.
I put together a little power meter way back when. Just found it in the basement, I'm going to recalibrate it to my current 1500 watt rig capacity, and keep an eye on it next gig. See exactly how many watts I'm really using out of the 1500. Sort of curious myself.
Randy
