I would have thought of using more
power for a 600
watt max
speaker (around 525 watts) rather than 350 watts.
Why? What is the reason for providing more
power? Do you need the additional output and/or
headroom? Compare the 500W/
channel of the P5000S to the 350W/
channel output of the P3500S and that is about 1.5dB difference, something many people would not even notice. So you have to consider what you actually need.
So why would you provide less than the rated 'peak'
power? First, that is generally not a real number, typically only the continuous or "
RMS"
power is actually measured and the 'peak'
power is simply calculated as 6dB higher based on the 6dB
crest factor of the test signal commonly used. Second, failure from too much instantaneous
power, which typically results in overexcursion, is not the only form of
speaker failure. In fact thermal failures caused by excessive long term levels are probably more common.
The simple issue is that a 500W/
channel amp on those speakers should not be a problem as far as the peak
level but it could be a problem as far as the
level over longer periods of time unless you are cognizant of that and watch the average levels. Unless you actually need the output or
headroom of the larger amp, a smaller amp limits the potential for thermal failures due to the long term average levels. In many cases it is a matter of balancing these two factors.