I’m a product of the 80’s and a metal head to the core.
Having bounced around both home and car audio on the higher end for nearly 40yrs I have found speed to be key. Speaking mainly on the bottom end of the frequency spectrum however there is quite a bit on the top end too but it is the lower end that causes the issues.
Among the cone and surround materials I have found the lighter cone materials such as paper with a foam surround to be the best. In an all around speaker I prefer aluminum, carbon fiber or a composite however metal is difficult to keep up with.
My litmus test by far is to use Metallica’s Justice for All CD. The kick drum is digitalized at 50Hz and it is super fast so get ready to hear muddy and sloppy if the speakers are not up to it. There will be a distinct "tick" to the kick drum when at full speed if the speakers are quick and something very different if it is not.
My preference is Cerwin Vega’s AT-15’s and a paper cone 15" sub. Vega’s do need quite a bit of good quality power. For the AT-15’s it’s 300W to get the cones moving well :)