As someone who imports and sells a line focused on current vs. wattage, I have a POV. Art Audio amps are biased toward current. That is, our amps are high current and deliver lower wattage vs. many of our competitors. This means that with any given tube, we could deliver a much higher wattage number but opt against it.
This absolutely does allow for better handling of lower impedance speakers. But that is not the only reason and it is not just marketing.
The extra current delivers better frequency extremes. You get lighter & airier treble with better nuance and detail. Bass response is tighter and more refined. Maximize wattage in SET or Push Pull triode and treble gets rolled off and bass gets flabby.
You can find 35w SETs with 845 tubes. Why would Art Audio choose to produce an 18w amp when we could produce a 35w amp? The 35w amp will have flabby bass and rolled off treble while the 18w Carissa will deliver frequency extremes you woudn’t think are possible from a tube amp. But it certainly won’t drive every speaker.
That being said, the comment above where a kosst_amojan says ’it depends" really is true. It comes down to your speakers. I have seen a speaker with a high SPL of 98dB but has a minimum impedance of 3.2 ohms. Way harder to drive than you would think and even though 5w of power is enough to drive them in normal circumstances. You need 5 really good, current heavy watts.
Alternatively, I will be introducing a speaker (Verdant Blackthorn 1) with an 84dB SPL and a minimum impedance of 7.2 ohms. Not a difficult speaker to drive at all and current is of minimal concern. You just need enough power into 8 ohms to hit the volume you are looking for. 5w would deliver a whisper, 30w a bare minimum to have 10dB in headroom above 85dB.
I can say that my 18w Carissa could drive Focal Sopra Floor Standers mentioned by kosst_amojan with 15dB of headroom above 85dB. That same amp can’t drive my Blackthorn 1.
Alternatively, I have a 140w SS Class A/B amp that would do a wonderful job with my Blackthorn 1 but would blow a fuse if I tried to drive Sopras with it because it is barely stable at 4 ohms.
This absolutely does allow for better handling of lower impedance speakers. But that is not the only reason and it is not just marketing.
The extra current delivers better frequency extremes. You get lighter & airier treble with better nuance and detail. Bass response is tighter and more refined. Maximize wattage in SET or Push Pull triode and treble gets rolled off and bass gets flabby.
You can find 35w SETs with 845 tubes. Why would Art Audio choose to produce an 18w amp when we could produce a 35w amp? The 35w amp will have flabby bass and rolled off treble while the 18w Carissa will deliver frequency extremes you woudn’t think are possible from a tube amp. But it certainly won’t drive every speaker.
That being said, the comment above where a kosst_amojan says ’it depends" really is true. It comes down to your speakers. I have seen a speaker with a high SPL of 98dB but has a minimum impedance of 3.2 ohms. Way harder to drive than you would think and even though 5w of power is enough to drive them in normal circumstances. You need 5 really good, current heavy watts.
Alternatively, I will be introducing a speaker (Verdant Blackthorn 1) with an 84dB SPL and a minimum impedance of 7.2 ohms. Not a difficult speaker to drive at all and current is of minimal concern. You just need enough power into 8 ohms to hit the volume you are looking for. 5w would deliver a whisper, 30w a bare minimum to have 10dB in headroom above 85dB.
I can say that my 18w Carissa could drive Focal Sopra Floor Standers mentioned by kosst_amojan with 15dB of headroom above 85dB. That same amp can’t drive my Blackthorn 1.
Alternatively, I have a 140w SS Class A/B amp that would do a wonderful job with my Blackthorn 1 but would blow a fuse if I tried to drive Sopras with it because it is barely stable at 4 ohms.