Exactly but it depends on the situation. Normally I play pretty loud music with drummers who are trying to hit the floor through their drums. I've found that less than 50 Watts is challenging for keeping up and 100 is preferable.
The Atma is easily one of the best amps Bogner has ever built.....at 18 watts the headroom is decent, not keeping up with slamming metal drummer decent, but loud enough to play any small club. First EL84 driven amp I ever played that changed my mind about what that tube in the right circuit is capable of. I had one for a couple of years, sold it a year ago when I got my 3534. I would buy another one today if a screaming deal popped up.
Is this a screaming deal?
I saw that a few days ago, that's +/- $100 in the going rate range. I sold my metal head shell version for $930 cash locally...a screaming deal would be same amp in the mini Helios head shell for between $900 - 1000 shipped. That would get my attention quick, the wood head shell versions are typically $200 - 300 more because of the head shell. I actually had looked into getting the grey grill on mine powder coated black.
It's a great amp, for sure. The 3534 is pretty frickin badass too though....I love mine. When its running near wide open it starts to do some of the things the Wizard does in terms of lack of compression but its waaaaaay loud....I couldn't run it at that volume in any of the clubs we play round here. Maybe at an outdoor gig.
