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Don't worry about dust on the drivers the mass of the dust is so insignificant to the mass of the driver it couldn't change the frequency response by any noticeable amount. Plus tweeters are really delicate the chance of damaging the tweeter diaphragm by using a vacuum or canned air a bit too great for either of those things to be recommended.
How loud can you play the speakers? Well first the better the system is the LESS loud it has to be played to sound good. Which is completely side-stepping the question but still an important point to mention. The real answer is when the bass starts to distort. If you notice the bass notes starting to blend into one another or they start sounding "fuzzy" it's time to back off.
that's another maybe-problem: since the bass definitely isn't booming, is it a problem with the speakers or would it have to do with how I placed them on bookshelves instead of the floor?
There are two things that can happen to speakers.
1. You can and will blow the tweeters if you drive the amp into clipping. This usually happens when you don't have enough power.
2. Too much power will cause the woofers to bottom out making loud mechanical non-musical noises.
Placement on a bookshelf or near any room boundary WILL cause the bass to sound muddy or boomy. Even though they are referred to as "bookshelf" speakers the fast majority sound much better on speaker stands pulled away from walls/corners. How far? That's impossible to say because the speakers, room, personal tastes, etc are all major variables.
Exactly why I don't understand reflex bookshelf speakers ported in the rear of the box. I just use the foam port plugs that came with them. Even three feet from the wall creates bad bass with the ports opened. Acoustic suspension on small speakers, please.