Grills on, I have louvered doors in front of my gear too, don’t need to see it or drivers, my system looks good enough without them.

I like Canare 4S11, shouldn’t have any trouble with that length.

I would first try to de-couple the speakers from the floor. It’s a little harder with tower speakers but there are both feet (like SVS), and de-coupling stands from many companies.

Tone controls are great, best if they’re out of the circuit when in the ‘neutral’ position. If you want them, get them, I wouldn’t buy a preamp or integrated without them.

I like to spend my money as locally as possible. Locally made products (in state, in country), support local people, and keep taxes local. However, good products can be made anywhere.

Generally, the warmer a piece of equipment runs, the shorter its life will be. However, some equipment (like class A amps) are designed to run hot. I have an infrared thermometer for measuring such things and would try measuring it where it is, then move it into the open and try it there and just see if it feels or measures cooler. If it’s significantly cooler in the open, you might want to do something. If you had a measurement you could also ask NAD.

They look fine, maybe 14 AWG? So no, not bad, but to determine if they’re ‘good’ we need to know how long they are?

Why would any good sound be too ‘old school’ for r/audiophile?