Wayne, thanks.The cabinets are raw MDF only right now so it's definitely not the finish It was an "electronic-y" smell, for lack of a more scientific term.
The amp chips and heat sink temps seem to be nominal- warm but not hot by any means. The PSU caps are room temp, and I checked the polarity about eight times when installing them. On first power-up I used a face shield just to be sure.
If I have a chance I may run the volume up a bit tonight and see if there's any change/increase. Otherwise, like I said, I am really enjoying these. They're going in a small studio apartment and I think have more than enough punch that I won't be able to run them anywhere near full potential.