"Watts" Versus "Current"

You're quite right, nothing really happens until those watts are called for, but when they are, the device appears to the amp as a certain kind of load. And it's the nature of the speaker load (or more accurately, the nature of the speaker's reactance) that will determine mix of amps x volts the amp must supply.

So it's not just that speakers present different impedences at different frequencies, but that those impedances can be resistive or capacitive. Remember that current flows easily through a voice coil (so volts are called for), but almost not at all across the [air-space + step-up-transformer] assembly of an electrostat (so current is called for.)
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Gs5556, great post - I found your bulb analogy very enlightening (pardon the pun). Thanks for sharing your knowledge on this!

OK, smarty pants!
What color amp should I buy???

OK, smarty pants!
What color amp should I buy???

does it matter? surely whatever color(s) it is, it's bound to match several things in your pièce derrière le garage ;-)

Thanks for the posts guys (girls?).
Once I get the camel dung out of my head, I will try understanding the current flow of the brightest shooting star I've ever seen (last night) while searching for planets with my Mead telescope. The best part is, my 6 year old nephew also saw the shooting star. We jumped around, slapped each other high fives. He plans on making a drawing.
Seriously, I appreciate the explanations!
derree aaars, and all.
Carry on...