Thanks Mojo and John

I'm pretty sure there is nothing wrong with my new m80's they sound great. I'm now thinking there most likely is nothing wrong with the mps-1 either. I re-checked all the speaker connections and everything was fine.

Today, I hooked my Denon back up to my m80's. I picked 4-5 different CD's, everything from Classical, Josh Groban, Jazz, and some good ole rock and roll.

I re-checked my calibration of all speakers using the Denon's test tones and noticed I was running them about 1dB to high, no big deal really, anyway they are now at +4dB for an SPL of 75dB on the meter.

From 13ft away, with the Denon main volume on 0dB, that gave me an average of 100dB (peaks upto 105dB or so) on the SPL meter. As I tested various songs, and gradually raised the volume, I noticed the sound from the Denon, although still good, did appear to be straining a little at the higher levels and seemed to be less detailed and harsher to my ears. With the SPL meter now set to 110dB range and the volume turned up to around +5to6 I was seeing peaks going beyond 110dB on the meter. If I do my math correctly, this was really working the Denon, and I could tell by the sound, I was most likely approaching its limits and headroom was gone.

With the mps-1 hooked back up, things seemed much different. The same songs never showed any strain at any levels. I never cranked the volume all the way to the max like the other day, but even at +6-10 on the Denon the mps-1 had no problems, was not even warm to the touch, and the fans never came on once.

I'll keep an eye on things, and most likely will never have a need to turn the Denon volume to its max, that is just to loud.

M80s VP180 4xM22ow 4xM3ic EP600 2xEP350
AnthemAVM60 Outlaw7700 EmoA500 Epson5040UB FluanceRT85