There's no substitute for surface area and maximum linear displacement in absolute terms. The idea of small drivers being faster is rarely proven. Two 8" drivers have about the surface area of a single 10" driver but often with lower impedance. It's not like you get a 16" driver by buying 2x 8". Also, the 8" drivers tend to have shorter displacements and power handling, so assuming they had the equivalent surface area of a 16" (and they don't) they'd never have the same linear movement capability.
Having said this, I will say I'm a big fan of 2.5 way systems for their efficiency and foot print, but they do tend to have lower impedance with the parallel drivers which can make them underperform with less capable amps.
The big issue in terms of having "fast articular bass" tends to be that the lower you go, the more issues you run into in a room. A speaker that is anechoically flat to 16 Hz may sound really crappy vs. a smaller speaker which is flat to 40 Hz as the big speaker will aggravate the room modes more.
There's a big difference between the anechoic bass response of a speaker, or the -3 dB point, and how it will sound in a room. Smaller is often better.
Having said this, I will say I'm a big fan of 2.5 way systems for their efficiency and foot print, but they do tend to have lower impedance with the parallel drivers which can make them underperform with less capable amps.
The big issue in terms of having "fast articular bass" tends to be that the lower you go, the more issues you run into in a room. A speaker that is anechoically flat to 16 Hz may sound really crappy vs. a smaller speaker which is flat to 40 Hz as the big speaker will aggravate the room modes more.
There's a big difference between the anechoic bass response of a speaker, or the -3 dB point, and how it will sound in a room. Smaller is often better.