Smaller page loads are better, though with high speed access becoming dominate the meaning of small page loads is changing.
Indeed you should stay away from inline styles and use your style sheets whenever possible. This is also good for
SEO as it reduces the garbage code.
We did a survey on 3,000 people regarding loading sound on a page without asking first.
92% said they will leave a site or get a negative attitude towards it if sound is presented without permission.
Many people listen to loud music on their computers at times. If they neglect to turn it down and visit a site with sound it scares the sh** out of them! Other lesser systems can also crash when loading sound.
Using off site images can delay a page load also. Many security certificates from Mcaffee and others will often delay as they are very busy and their servers often delay presenting the security image. To get around this put the image in an iframe and then present it on your page. The main page can then load completely without having to wait for someone elses server to respond.