What is my best bet for this scenario?

The speakers are rated at 100 watts RMS...should I be looking at amplifiers over 100 watts RMS or below 100 watts RMS?

 

Generally, over.

Power usage while listening to music varies widely...logrithmicly, in fact.

1 watt, 10 watts, 100 watts...in the blink of an eye.

 

i see..thanks for the prompt reply

the setup i am contemplating of doing...an Alpine CDA-105 HU and the Alpine power pack KTP 445 mini amp....its rated at 45 watts RMS and requires no additional wiring...which is a good thing...

Now most of the mid level speakers that I am looking at are over 50 watts RMS and some into the 100's....I would like to keep it simple and run the Alpine power pack as my amplifier....will it be okay for me to run, say some 70-100 watt RMS speakers with my 45 watts RMS alpine power pack?

 

Certainly, as long as you don't attempt to overdrive them.
Most speakers are fried when the amp is asked to output more power than it is capable of, resulting in a square wave output. IOW, instead of the speaker cone moving in and out with the music, it "hangs" briefly at the top and bottom of the wave, powered to the amps max output and NOT moving, resulting in overheating.

Poof, "I blew out my subs".

 

Thanks Steve for the help!