1 Subwoofer to 2 tops pls help

Subwoofer use is really depending on kind of gig and your personal taste. I know people who want massive low end and would prefer using 4 subs with 2 tops LOL. But for some low end support a 1 sub – 2 top setup will work. For some more fundamental low perhaps a 2 sub – 2 top setup.

From any reputable brand you can just get the sub and two tops from the same series. But with a total budget of 1625 USD you might want to start with just two tops and add a sub at a later date (I played many gigs without a sub for years and even now I’ll leave the sub at home and just use my two 12″ tops for parties).

If you pick the Thump sub I’d go with the Thump tops (usually best to match sub with tops from same brand and range as they are usually engineered to work well together). You could start with one 18S and two 15’s and add an 18S later if you feel you still need more umph. This would give you a start of 1600W RMS or something I believe. Plenty for your purpose.

To answer your questions:
1) Depending on build quality it could be several things. From plain over-steering them (better speakers have both thermal and signal limiting built-in, but lower end stuff won’t have that) to playing them hard without proper cross-overs. In the latter case, the sub will try to spend amp power to have the BIG speaker move really fast (higher frequencies). As the big speaker can’t move that quicly (too much mass), the coil and magnet at the back can get pretty hot and even burn-out. Where you using the passive or active VRX?

2) RMS is a regulated term and poses certain demands on the testing in order to use it. All other terms “PMPO”, Peak Power, Music Power, Program Power, Total Power and whatever else they come up with are not regulated and everybody just uses those to their own discretion. So really RMS is the only kind of power you can (more or less) objectively compare. On it’s own it’s not all that relevant without also knowing the sensitivity of the speaker, generally reported as SPL. Also interesting is the maximum output before distortion, known as max. SPL.
In short:
* RMS tells you what “continuous” power level the amp can deliver (in the case of an active speaker)
* SPL (Sound Pressure Level) tells you how many dBs of sound you get when 1 Watt RMS of white noise is played and measured at 1 meter distance from the speaker. This is a measure of how sensitive a speaker transfers amp power into audio power. The higher the number the more sensitive it is. So lower RMS but high SPL can lead to the same perceived loudness as high RMS and low SPL. Clearly both high will give you more loudness, both low less loudness.
* Max. SPL is the maximum sound pressure level the speaker can deliver (again at 1 m) before (a certain amount of) distortion occurs. Beware that dB scales are logarithmic. If you double the amp power in a given situation you will only gain 3dB spl. So two comparable speakers, one with a max SPL of 127dB, the other with 130dB. Having the higher one is like having the lower one with TWICE the amp power. So don’t think oh only a few dB max SPL difference as it really adds up.

3) As I said many speakers will have built-in limiting for temperature and signal level. If you run them beyond their safe upper levels the protection kicks in, you’ll hear a click and no more music. Usually after a slight delay (and dropping the signal level) they will click again an come back on.
That said, there are two “rules” in PA that I would try to stick by.
a) 0dB rulez!
b) Red is Bad! (Clipping kills speakers)
Always try to tune your entire audio chain to be 0dB average with +3 to + 5dB at the loud bits (peaks). Generally speaking the first one or two orange lights blinking, the last green one more or less permanently on. And NEVER go into the red. Start with your deck gains, then your master gain on controller/mixer and then on your speakers also set 0dB (depending on what max level is at full you will keep your speakers set at 85-100% when no 0dB marking is present). When you do that, you should never hurt your speakers or cause them to sound distorted (or any other part of the audio chain for that matter).

Just my 3 cents worth.

Yep, that should give you enough bang for such a party indoors. Good luck. Keep us posted on your progress.