I AM definitely concerned about blowing my speakers using too much power and you make a good point that I came to understand over the last few days of experimenting SVO. I thought my Alesis Multimix 8 mixer just didn't have much headroom because I was turning the knobs way up with using the low powered amp that I've been using for the last couple of months.
When I started running just one top and one sub in bridged mode I found that the mixer only needed to be turned up very slightly and even small turns of the knobs yielded large increases in volume. Very interesting for me. I came to appreciate my mixer even more, it's one of my best purchases. I would buy another one.
I tried two different amps in bridged mode and experimented with running just the upper speaker off one amp and the sub off another amp using the crossover for the sub only. I could tell I was approaching the upper power end of the top speaker, but still clipping so I knew that more clean power could be used if I was careful.
I did the same with the sub running only one sub in bridged mode on the PV-1500 and I could tell that the sub could take more power than what the Peavey amp could deliver. This is why I am hunting for a much more powerful amp. If I can get an amp for a reasonable price I can use it just for my subs-and they will thump. The amps I have now are good enough to run my tops.
Most of the places I perform at I will be able to run two tops and two subs off one powerful amp-I'm already doing that with much less powerful amps and I am plenty loud enough. I've used the Radio Shack Optimus 250 amp that was given to me for free over and over and it performs flawlessly-ZERO problems-sounds great-even driving a top on one channel AND a top with a sub on the other channel. I can run one top and a sub on each channel.
If you have a nice car with 400hp it's not enough, you want 650hp and nitrous and a turbocharger. I want lots of horsepower, I know eventually I'll use it. I don't have to squeal the tires and burn rubber every time I use it, but I know I have the horsepower available for when I need it. It's very easy to adjust the input signal if you want to throttle back the system.
Fred, I've decided that even though that Carvin is a very good deal, it's not quite what I want or need. I want to be able to run bridged @4ohms and to be able to go down to 2ohms if necessary even though everyone is telling me not to run at 2ohms. I've read several comments from people who run Behringers and other amps at 2ohms without any problems. If I run at 2ohms it doesn't mean I will run my speakers at full tilt, that's exactly the point. If I have more speakers I don't have to run them as hard.
Anyways, I need to find out for myself what different equipment can and can't do. I now have several mixers that I got for almost nothing and several amps that I got for nothing or almost nothing off craig's list and off ebay. I expect to come out of this knowing a lot more than what I knew before I started experimenting. I can sell nearly everything I've gotten for a profit. I have enough free cables that have come with stuff I've bought to circle the earth a couple of times. I have enough gear now to do a small concert. Once I get the amp I want and need I'll probably start selling off some of the speakers and amps and mixers on craig's list, it will be enough to pay for several amps.
