[hummingbird]

Those fancy multi-kilowatt ratings of car amps are for PMPO - Peak Music Power Output. It has to do with dynamic range, and ensures that sudden changes in the output (occasional excursions to extremes like a blast etc) are not clipped / distorted.

My home theater speakers are rated for 12000W, and my total contracted electrical load for the house is (including all electrical appliances, lighting and the home theater itself) 6000W. So take those ratings with a pinch of salt. When read carefully, the steady state power output (RMS power in audio terms) for each speaker is just about 50W.

PS: See you make the distinction already... but for car amps with enough power to propel the car are likely to be costlier than the car itself...