You don't have the faintest idea what you are talking about. The ONLY way it's going to sound worse is if you are clipping the amp, period. Speakers do NOT sound better with more power. This is an inescapable reality of physics. To claim otherwise demonstrates a severe misunderstanding of how loudspeakers actually function.
You are just perpetuating an ignorant, poorly reasoned myth.
So long as you don't try and make the amp do more than it can (i.e. clip it), a larger amp will NOT be better. If you clip ANY amp, it's obviously going to sound distorted, whether it's a 200 watt amp or a 2000 watt amp. Provided that your amp doesn't clip at the output levels you desire, having a bigger amp isn't particularly important.
Lastly, how did you then devolve the amount of power argument to one on amplifier quality/brand? I don't recall that being mentioned in this thread, and it certainly isn't at all relevant to the post at hand. It in no way, shape, or form supports your other blatantly false claim.
I run a TC7 10" (same motor and a similar coil but slightly varied suspension from an Eclipse Alum) in 0.7cf sealed with about 225w RMS available. I have NEVER clipped it, nor has my sub ever been terribly distorted or inaccurate. If you think having more power when you aren't clipping the amp is going to make a difference, you are sadly mistaken.
Remember, no driver has EVER died from too little power. It's just not possible.
Actually it is a widely known fact that drivers that are runnning on to little power are more subject to strain BECAUSE amps that are underpowered are more prone to being clipped, since their is not a sufficient power output available to adequately move the cone of the speaker. You have no understanding of how a speaker works if you believe that any speaker can be powered off of any amount of power and sound good. You say that you are running your speaker off of 225 Watts RMS power, well it probably is not all that loud then is it? I base all my knowledge on a large study of physical dynamics (including a Bachelors in engineering with a minor in physics).
Now, so that you dont go flying off the handle again without thinking first about what I said let me explain it so that those here who arent quite as swift can see the point being made. I am saying that an amp without sufficient power will be pushed to hard in an attempt to drive that speaker. A larger amp is most certainly better, now listen to the actual scientific reason why:
A larger amp that is capable of producing more power will not be overstressed providing the amount of power that a given speaker requires, while an amp that at its peak puts out just enough power will constantly be driven to its peak performance.. This analogy can be easily translated into the field of automobile engines: A car weighing 3000 pounds and having an engine horsepower rating of 100 HP will need to be worked harder to provide the same amount of acceleration as a vehicle weighing 3000 pounds and having a horsepower rating of 200 HP. Thus increasing the stress laid onto the parts of the engine and increasing the likelihood that the engine will succumb to premature wear. Now for those of you that are saying "well, an engine is a MECHANICAL device whereas an amplifier is an ELECTRICAL device." Well, to you let me say that amplifiers are subjected to internal wear by a constant flow of current through the circuitry, anything you can do to decrease the amount of electricity that passes through a given electrical component will obviously increase the life of that component.
Therefore, my statement:
."..you cant underpower speakers with a crappy, low power amp and expect them to sound good just by turning up the gain..."
Is entirely correct, if you underpower a speaker with a lousy low power amplifier than you will be forced to turn the gain up in order to extract an acceptable amount of output from that amplifier. So in essence what I was saying is basicaly agreeing with your statement that the only way to damage a speaker is to cause the amplifier to "clip". I did it merely in a different way, by using a particular speaker as the basis of my reasoning. And I specifically stated that the usual problem I see with people underpowering their equipment is that they are trying to get too much from too little:
"...This is a common mistake made by wigger types who want to squeeze out more SPL than is reasonable given their equipment...
And lastly to you as well, the way that I devolved the amount of power output into a rant (which I agree it is a rant with very little purpose) was to make the connection that most amplifier manufacturing companies use false advertisement in the form of "peak" or "Musical" power ratings to essentially lie to the uneducated consumer.
So, I hope you learned your lesson Warbleed, what people say can be interpereted many different ways, before calling someone uneducated and saying they know nothing about what they are talking about try looking at it from a different point of view, and realize that you are not the only person in the world with an understanding of the way that speakers work.
Incidentally you were correct when you stated that to get FULL POTENTIAL out of the subwoofer 500-600 Watts will do the trick, I should have given you credit for that, my mistake.
Joel