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The B1600 is a 640w strobe. B800 is 320w, etc.
PCB named them that way based on "effective watt-seconds." It implies that the actual light output from a B800 could be compared to an 800w strobe from another manufacturer because the Alien Bees have a more efficient design. I'm not an engineer but I believe there are old articles/posts written by Paul that explain this in detail. At any rate, they have moved away from that practice with the Einstein - a 640w strobe and thus called the E640.
I doubt there's any safety issue related to plugging in 4 or 40 Alien Bees if your home is wired safely, but again I'm not an engineer. I'm sure TS can tell you for sure about that. I would imagine that worst case you'd trip breakers.
I think everyone would have their own (often strong) opinions about what equipment to buy. Here are some suggestions:
If I had it to do over again, I'd only buy Einsteins. They are capable of a range of light output that spans the whole B400-1600 range, more precisely and reproducibly adjustable because they're digital, have better motion-freezing capability, more color consistency across power settings, and represent the current cutting edge of PCB's innovations. I think the Einstein is the best studio strobe money can buy.
Also, if you buy several different strength strobes you'll have to do extra math in your head - B800 at 1/8 strength is B400 at 1/4 strength etc. And if you set both of those strobes that way, they'd have comparable light output but differing color temperature and differing flash duration. Personally, I'd rather have all Einsteins.
I would strongly consider getting the Cyber Commander over the wired remote. Paired with the Einstein, the Cyber Commander is an awesome wireless solution in a league of its own.
I would really look at the PLM products, and I'd wait for the new soft-silver ones that are about to be released. Everyone will have their own opinions regarding light modifiers but the PLM's are stand-out products. Also, I find that for many applications a simple, shoot-thru 60" white umbrella produces light that's hard to beat. But if you want more control of the light (less spill, traditionally by a using a softbox) I think the PLM's can give you that but retain the portability, weight advantage etc. of an umbrella.
Lastly, if you ever plan to take your show on the road, the Vagabond Mini-Lithium is very, very nice. Also, if you'll be moving your stuff around, you might consider a rolling suitcase type bag etc. rather than the single light carrying bags. They're nice and I have one for each light, but in the long run you don't want to carry 6-8 little bags to a shoot. I just bought a Think Tank Photo Airport Security 2.0 and I wish I'd started that way. It easily holds 2 Einsteins, VML and spare battery, 2 Canon speedlites with external battery packs, and still lots of room to spare. I think I could get 4 PCB lights in there plus VML and more if I wanted to.
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