I'm currently running my 50w/rms front splits off of an amp giving them 80w/rms channel. The amp is set with the high pass filter on, filter is set at maybe 60hz or so... though the fine controls on the amp and lack of markers make it hard to tell! Speakers sound fine. The gain on the amp has been set fairly low.

What I'm wondering is, over time, is there any real risk of causing damage to the speakers by giving them too much power?

I'm guessing probably not.... but was curious to hear views of those with more knowledge in this area.

Better to over-power speakers than under power them...

Easy steps to protect your speakers:

Find a song you know with a fair bit of bass/midrange (drives speakers harder and uses more current).
With the headunit off, turn the amp gain right down to zero
Turn the headunit on, play the song and turn the headunit volume up to 3/4 volume
Now gradually increase the gain of the amp till you hear distortion and then back off a bit.

This way you should be fine as long as you never go over 3/4 volume on your headunit (at which point most head units begin to distort anyway).

And yes, you always get an amp that is rated higher than your speakers.

Yeah, what Red said, but it must be clean, and your gains are low, so thats good.
I've got 180 connected to my 80 watt splits, but the gains are set conservatively.

But if you have invested (wasted lol) a decent amount on speakers, I recommend taking them to an audio specialist, but they need an oscilloscope, and spend the 50.00 to make sure they are getting.clean signal and power.
My local store has cut their speaker return rate by 80%.

That would easily equate to longer lasting gear. And you'll get every bit of performance you paid for, safely.

As for tuning at 3/4 volume, be careful, its an easy way to kill your speakers, Wether by accident, or by your mates, semding a clipped signal to your speakers, burning or cooking them, if you tune this way, headunits will alwaus distort above 75%.
Both of my cheap decks are distortion free at 100%, so have the last few I've tickled up, even after.a shop has installed them.
Marty.

Because your amp can put out 80w rms doesn't mean it is. You will know when you are giving them more than they can handle when you start smelling coils burning.

With the gain set low it should be fine. It's better to have a more powerful amp turned down, than an under powered amp at max gain.

Thanks everyone for your views. Not actually sure how much 'clean' power the amp is giving, signal/noise ratio is > 97dB, which I'm guessing is reasonable. Seems like the general conensus is that I should be safe with gains set lower, rather than higher, and not going crazy with the volume levels.

Personally, i aim to have have my headunit on or below 60% of it's max to ensure it's not clipping, with enough amp gain to sound loud but not distort.

Here, try this, much safer. Linky (http://www.mobileelectronics.com.au/forums/index.php?/topic/35875-tutorial-amplifier-gain-crossover-adjustment/)

Its a link to Mobile Electronics Australia's - How To and FAQ area, The 16,000+ post history Administrator thought it was so helpful, he put it up there himself.