That did not smoke the sub. Clipping likely did, But okAlso you would not have heard clipping or overpowering problems if you couldn't even hear that you had words coming from your subs. You never even mentioned what size enclosure the subs are in or what its tuned to, hell maybe its sealed. You can keep calling us names but that still wont fix your problems. If you decide you truly want help then you can start trying to give out better information. This is exactly right, more information needs to be given. Exactly how was the amplifiers gain set? Its been said a million times: the gain knob is not a volume knob.