Hello
I own these exact same speakers. My uncle has a pair and I liked them so much when I was in my teens that I hunted them down on ebay. Ours both still work he has had his for almost 30 years and mine for almost 12 years. More than likely it is the small gauge wire you were using. That would also explain the loud volume issue I always use 14 minimum for larger speakers. I prefer 12 gauge or 10 gauge ofc. if you look you can buy 10 gauge ofc in a roll for around 40 dollars at 150 feet. 24 gauge is very thin and hard to find 18 is usually the smallest sold in most stores. I had one overheat one time by using to small of wire. IT heats up the receiver the wire and the speakers just like car jumper cables when you have to small of a cable on a big battery.all those amp are trying to crank the starter but the wire cannot transfer them fast enough. The smaller wires causes more resistance so the amplifier heats up and the speaker does too. You can buy polypropylene woofers similar to the oem woofers on mcmelectronics.com. I buy all my vintage parts there. I would keep them cause they can get up to loud volumes and are very stronge I have pushed them pretty far before. IT wouldn't hurt to clean the controls and the circuit breaker button in the back. I have heard crazy stories about these speakers but I have fully tested them and they are far from junk
