Speed-Freak

Excuse me, When choosing a woofer, size seems be be everything. A 12" sub is better than a 10". A 6.5" woofer is better than a 4". I do understand that the larger the driver the easier it is for it to reproduce lower frequency sound. Can the measure could also be total displacement? Such as a long throw 10" driver can displace more air/space than a short throw 12" driver. I have seen this referred to as the "hit" or the physical impact the body feels. How does driver extension affect the characteristics of sound and performance?

Greetings Folks, I was in to mobile audio around year 2000. Back then the Big Box Brands like you found at Best Buy were OK but the high end companies had a significant boost in performance. Lower noise floors, met rated power output, better thermal management, and cleaner sound. Today I see that the mainstream companies products pricing has DROPPED dramatically. I wonder if quality has suffered as well. Let me give an example... Sounstream 15 years ago was a high end company that made top shelf products. Today they are owned my the corporate overlords and have mainstream products. This amp caught my attention for price, performance, and looks. http://soundstream.com/product/tn4-900d/ Has the technology gotten so cheap that watts truly are watts and everything sounds basically the same?