I think you're overlooking things. I really doubt they're rated at 700 watts each. I'd look in the manual again.
Yeah theirs no way in hell the sony speakers are 700W, putting that amount of power into something so small would result in nice little piles of melted metal. And with the whole amp efficency matter, theirs a good chance you'd overload circuts.
Hi again, I think I'm problems with this system now. I decided to turn this up really loud yesterday and when I turn the volume up to 8/40 it starts to distort, but all the speakers distort at this point even though the bigger two are more powerful. Is the amplifier clipping? I found out the amp was made in 1988, is it too old for these speakers?
No amp is "too old" as the technology hasn't changed dramatically, even though modern amplifiers do have the advantage of being much lighter and power efficent, which are a big yay if you have to carry them around alot. Since your amplifier isn't too old it's a modern Class AB likely.
Your doing some things wrong though.
-I don't know exactly what your amp is, but assuming its' a stero amplifier, hooking up two speakers to the same output isn't a bright idea. I don't know the model, so I'm making assumptions here. Lets say the resistance of each speaker is 8 ohms, and the amp is meant to be driven at an 8 ohm load, hooking up two speakers will reduce this to a 4 ohm load, putting further stress on the amp.
-Having two speakers hooked up like that, means they will recieve the same amount of power. Your small speakers likely have a far less power handling, meaning that you will start distorting them far before the larger speakers reach the point where they cannot handle more power, making your entire speaker setup quiter.
-The posistioning of your speakers sucks, the audio quality will be terrible from where your sitting, as your too close to those speakers. You seem to be at a 45 degree angle from the speakers, which will result in a very different sound than having them pointed at you.
-Your going to overheat your "amp" running at high power levels.