Ok, here is my latest information from Emotiva, without going into great detail on their amp design.

"I really can’t go to deep into the design or operation of the wave form limiter as this is technology that is proprietary. What I can do is give you a basic overview of what it does. This type of limiter is what would normally be found in broadcast equipment like what is used at radio stations, television stations etc. It is used and employed to prevent the outgoing signal from clipping and the same principle of operation applies here. The limiter looks at the incoming signal in relation to the output as well as a number of other variables like current draw, rail voltage, etc. To understand what it does, you need to understand what the design criteria of the amp is. The EPM-300 amplifiers are designed to produce 300 watts RMS into a 4 ohm load unclipped. If the amplifier is pushed beyond this point a normal amplifier will go into clipping which could easily cause damage to the speakers. You see when an amplifier clips the distorted wave form starts to square off which generates harmonics across the bandwidth relative to the fundamental frequency. It is these harmonics that contribute to an increase in power output from the amp that will super heat the voice coils and cause them to expand and deform where by they will either rub against the motor structure and fail or will simply burn through the wire in the voice coil again casing the speakers to fail and to make it all worse this is not always apparent as the distortion is often masked by the level of the fundamental frequencies. Now with the limiter, if the amp is pushed beyond the designed levels, the limiter will engage where by reshaping the wave form and bringing it within a safe operating range and thereby protecting the speakers. So by removing R12, you will deactivate the limiter and the amp will now go into clipping which could cause possible damage to your speakers. So are you getting more power without the limiter? Not really, you see the amp will still only produce 300 watts RMS clean into a 4 ohm load, but now it can be pushed well beyond that but the signal will now be clipped."

So I really have a decision to make here guys and I need your help. I know the 80's can handle gobs of power according to my above statements, but what good is that if the amp driving them is clipping?

I really love this amp as the sound/power is great, however, once in a while when I audition, people like to hear something cranked up a bit. If I can't go past +3 on my Denon knob once in awhile without the dang thing shutting down, what good is it...

I could with the Denon, however, I could easily notice the Denon was straining and clipping, it must not have the same limiter inside.

This drives me nutzzzzzz.

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