I think the reputation system makes use of steem power when it calculates the weight of upvotes and flags. Also, I think reputation is only calculated based on posts and comments. If so, lurkers would never be able to gain in voting power if voting strength were based on reputation. Ideally, I think we want many more curators than authors.

Maybe as a starting point, voting power could be a combination of reputation + steem power, and the weighting function could be a little more balanced. Don't equalize it, but reduce the slope on the curve so minnows have relatively more power and whales have relatively less.