I was going around the car audio stores recently and decided to put 4kw on a RF 8" (150w RMS) and didn't want to turn it up much, but the person working said "Turn it up, we'll just send it back if you break it anyhow. We've got enough of these $90 subs in the back. Go ahead."
I decided to slowly turn it up until it started sounding bad. It wasn't that loud (sealed box) so I decided to stop the music, turn the volume to max, and let loose. I didn't destroy it, but it sure looked to be in lot of pain. That has nothing to do with the post though.
I compared a weaker amp (200w) to a stronger amp (4kw) on some subs and I heard a good difference between them. The bigger one seemed to sound better. My thoughts on this are that the 4kw amplifier controlled the woofer better and so lowered distortion along with higher transient capability. Do you agree?
I don't know why I created this thread. Sorry if it's stupid.
P.S. It's thundering and lightning; just now a powerful rumble came through and it rumbled everything in the room (and I couldn't even hear much, so it had to be subsonic I'm guessing).
THD and damping factor are both well below audible ranges with any modern amplifier. having more power will allow for better transient response due to having more dynamic headroom though.