I think there’s also an element of pragmatism in that statement warning against loafing: consider that polks speakers are designed to handle large levels of energy being fed into them... that is almost unlistenable if tapping into that potential. It has been written, for this reason, thats polks are sort of foolproof/bulletproof in that its very difficult to overdrive them, thus damage them. Enter the idea that “you should have an amp that doubles the rms rating of your speakers.” Suddenly, polks are power hungry speakers that take a lot to drive! Yes, I’ve seen that in writing, and was even told that by salespeople!
Anyway, the pragmatism at AH is in the attitude of some that you shouldn’t buy it to not use it. Amps are the perfect example for this, of course, and one of the more... shall we say: controversial components on the market.
You don’t actually need 500w to drive the speaker... you will quite possibly never actually use more than 32-64 watts while being in the same room as them. So why spend the money on that amp, when you can possibly buy fewer watts at lower distortion levels/cleaner power, or just flat out save money to apply to another future upgrade?
Don’t misunderstand me, I see the value in both sides. I like that my amps aren’t working hard (yet I do have the potential to drive my speakers to reference level dynamic peaks), and that my speakers aren’t working hard, and that my subs aren’t working hard. I also bought wisely, with sale prices and smart gear... thus fulfilling both angles of pragmatism! Not that I didn't have people telling me to buy the model 5000 amp over 5 2200s, or just 3 2200s. There was plenty of that!
Regardless, It's not a bad thing to have dynamic headroom hanging out for those times when you need it. If you are comfortable spending for that amp, it is your system. No real reason not to, as long as you understand the gear, how it works and interacts with everything else in the system, and use it responsibly and not destroy your hearing. (That's my pragmatism
) Have fun and enjoy!