I don't get 86 at 1 watt 1 meter.
Maybe I have a room null in the frequency range I used for testing when I got them. I don't trust specs, I like to measure myself.
I only have the multimeter now, the mic is long gone so I can't retest.
I borrowed my dad's axioms and tried the amp. I put my earplug headphones on so I could play them at stupidly loud levels and it never got more than slightly warm.. I guess it's a speaker thing. Then again I also measured these to do a solid 28 hz in this room before they even began rolling off in 1 dB increments, so the amp does have that burden.
I also tried the old HK again on these. It didn't have a chance to get hot.. it got warm, warmer, then shut off. What a wussy.
I have also put those earplug headphones on and tried playing far above the levels I'd ever reach without them on just for testing purposes. The overload LEDs never went on. I guarantee I did my best.
I'm sure the M80s would have been easier to power, they don't dip as low in impedance and even if they did are far more sensitive. But I can't give these speakers up now.. they don't sound amazing, they sound normal, until I listen to any other speaker side by side. It's worth the trouble.
I think I'm going to run a molex extension cord from my computer which is near the amp, and use two 120mm computer fans I have. I can tape the corners of the fan to the two back corners of the amp and it'll blow cool air through the fins. If I hook it to the fan controller, I can even control the volume. If I keep them low it won't even be noticeable over general room noise.
Thanks for all the responses.
