Hi Jim,
And good morning from tropical UK.
Yes indeed I have seen the Orton advertised with all sorts of power ratings. Apart from a couple of small revisions (The Orton is in its mark 3 guise now) we have not changed the power configuration.
It is a 30 or so watt per channel amplifier if measured into 8 ohms with a Sine wave at 1kHz and 1% distortion. This is the accepted standard method of measurement for which you will see figures published. Though I do know some do it at 10% distortion!
My point is the figures tell a very very small part of the story.
The Orton is a dual mono amplifier with three power supplies. One for each channel and one for the control circuitry. Each channel has a 160VA power supply with a Cascade of capacitors. In this sense the actual power when say and orchestra is in full throttle is even across the spectrum. It is also as responsive and controlled as can reasonably be to both the most subtle and most dynamic of sound.
This also means it can drive a loudspeaker comfortably down to 2 ohms without seeing it as a virtual short circuit. In this case you are getting a lot of power out of it.
The unfortunate thing about the accepted norm of published specification is that it allows us to know more judge a product than you would a person by knowing only that they had a head, two legs and two arms.
I hope this helps.
Haider
