Car Stereos: sub box is smoking:(, puff of smoke, bandpass box

Question
I have a 10" Kenwood sub (500W Peak) in a bandpass box, running from a 340W Peak Clarion amp, and when i cranked the music i smelt something funny and when i opened my trunk a big puff of smoke came out and my sub box was smoking, my nieghbor told me its probably a fried coil but my sub still works perfectly, so i called the place where it was installed and the guy told me that because it is a bandpass box i cant tell when its distorting causing it to overheat... who is right, and what do i need to do to fix this problem?! i really want it to hit hard!! Thanks

Answer
Hi Ryan,

They're both likely right.  You've burnt the coil, but because it's bandpass, you can't hear how bad it's sounding as bandpass doesn't tend to hit very cleanly or accurately in the first place.

You'll likely need to replace your subwoofer.

Justin