Any way I could have damaged my speakers?

@almarg  "If the amp is powered up when that is done, as it was in this case, that could easily result in a brief transient being applied to the speakers corresponding to the amp’s maximum power capability, at an arbitrary combination of frequencies. With most of that power very possibly being in the treble region, where the power handling capability of the speaker is probably lowest. "

Could be that my saving grace was that I have a decware amp that only delivers slightly over 2 watts per channel?

Could be that my saving grace was that I have a decware amp that only delivers slightly over 2 watts per channel?

No question about it. It’s hard to envision a speaker that could be harmed by a 2 watt tube amp, even if the speaker is highly efficient (which I presume it is), and regardless of what part of the frequency spectrum that 2 watts occupies.

Generally speaking, though, I suppose it would be at least slightly possible that some amps might themselves suffer damage as a result of being briefly but severely overdriven, with a contributing factor perhaps being arcing of the tubes that could occur. But in general I would expect that possibility to be slight, due to the brief nature of the transient, and it certainly doesn’t appear to have happened in this case.

Best regards,
-- Al

I’ve done it with amps at 650 wpc.

Woofers under more than a horsepower of transient stress....tend to look like the eyes on a highway kill run over in the middle by a transport. (film- total recall)

I just committed a similar misjudgment but wasn’t so lucky.
 I was installing new speaker cable using banana plugs but didn’t remove the spade lug already attached to one of the amplifier leads. Actually played fine until I tried removing the spade lug.  It wouldn’t come off easily.  When I tried forcing it off I heard a terrible screech in one speaker.  The speaker still played, but when I compared it to the other speaker there was a definite deterioration in the sound.
Most likely blew the tweeter.  I sent both the amplifier and the speaker out for repair.