Hi Tom,
Your cutoff target may be a little high, I’d suggest around 80 Hz instead.
Your approach is good, but you would need to limit the signal before the amp. This would greatly increase the dynamic range of the amp and panels, and yes, reduce the strain on them. I’m not sure if it will improve the life of your panels. That depends on how they wear normally and how much bass you were going to push them to begin with.
The best advice I have for you however is to rely on automatic room correction to setup the crossovers and EQ, if any.
Best,
Erik