So...been running my 500watt (250rms) 4ohm cerwin vega xls 215's with my Sansui 8700db. [Peabody, you know about this].

Had problems with protection circuit kicking in with heavy bass lines. Defeated some of the problem by turning off the boomy loudness feature on the amp. Not that much fun to listen to though this way.

Need more power. Most cost efficient way i have found to do this is with some professional audio gear. Namely, a QSC power amp.....the RMX series. The 1450 model pushes 450wpc into 4 ohms. Costs around $600. Think this would drive the speakers beautifully and not at ear splitting volumes. Just clean, uncolored power with plenty reserve.

Now facing the issue of what preamp to use that has volume control. Have looked at some new ones....kind of pricey. Dont need one with phono necessarily as I have a project tube box se II.

I saw a yamaha c-4 on ebay and many other "vintage" or older preamps. All seem to be priced reasonably at $100-300- unless its a tube preamp. Maybe not in vogue, but just wondering about the quality of these older preamps versus newer ones.