I've been out of car audio for 20 yrs and just getting back into it. (as you can see by my post count) When I started seeing the prices of amps compared to 20 some odd years ago, my first thought was they were making cheap junk and using the name to make a buck.
I remember that Orion amp!! My first fun sub build was an Orion 12" in a 4th order box. We had a little 175 watt HiFonics Cyclops amp on it and man did it pound! I'm about to use a Hifonics Gemini VII 4 X 50 (NIB) that I was paid with when the guy I was working for went out of business. Back then it was around $400 for that amp!
Awesome post!