Drew: To those that understand what Fs, Qts and impedane mean, they will understand exactly what you're getting at. For those that are reading this, it probably went right over their heads : )
Speakers are designed very differently as they have very different atmosphere's ( acoustically and environmentally ) to deal with.
Amplifiers are designed very differently as they have a very different power source to deal with.
Having said that, you can get "pretty decent" car audio gear for not that much money. Just like in home audio, you have "pretenders to the throne" who rely on hype, cosmetics and fictitious spec's and then you have "the real deal" type of components that are built and designed around real world operating conditions and environments. Guess which type of product is most likely to be found in the majority of "boom boom" vehicles heading down the road. If you're not sure, just think about how much Pioneer / Sony / Kenwood type stuff you see in home audio as compared to even Parasound, Adcom, NAD, etc.. type gear. This is not to mention the likes of "audio standards" such as ARC, Krell, Pass, etc...
Cheaper junk that promises you the best for the least amount of money is what keeps the economy alive. People buy cheap junk, find out exactly how junky it is and then sell it to buy the next higher level of junk. Without all of the low grade junk and the learning experiences involved, we wouldn't have a "High End" in either home or car audio. It's just too bad we can't to how "junky" the low grade "junk" really is : ) Sean
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PS... Most car audio subwoofers are designed for maximum output at higher frequencies with little concern for extension and / or linearity. This results in more apparent bass, which is why you hear "boom, boom boom" or "thud, thud, thud" rather than musical notes. Then again, most of the recordings that have that "boom, chukka, splash" on them isn't very "musical" to begin with : )