Inverting Subs DOES Matter!

[project f-150 10+ year member]

You do not need to change the wiring on the subs. You are correct they move the same in both directions no matter which way they are wired. The difference in sound you are hearing may be comming from the difference in airspace you created in the box. By inverting the subs you added more air in the box by eliminating the air that is displaced by the back of the sub. But it should not have made it quieter.

 

[Astyl 10+ year member]

well half the posters on here said for me to do it, and then another few people said for me not to do it, and im leaving in about 5 min so i kinda need to know soon

 

[project f-150 10+ year member]

If both subs are facing the same way. It does NOT matter which way they are wired as long as they are the SAME!!

 

[Astyl 10+ year member]

My whole theory on inverting your subs was it would make it quieter, so i tried it to see and it did.

Think about it, if your playing subs normally, theyve got alot more undisrupted cone area, so its louder.. if your play it inverted your not even on a solid cone surface you get the tube shaped backing of the cone, and theyres abunch of shit in its way, magnet, basket, etc etc.. which would be like playing the sub normally, except having half the cone covered up with something

 

[mtdewelf 10+ year member]

if you inverted 1 of 2 subs then reverse it, if you did 1 of 1 or 2 of 2 then don't.

 

[.::DuD3::. 10+ year member]

i thought i remember someone saying that if you invert, you lose 3dbs? not sure if this is true or not.

 

[mtdewelf 10+ year member]

are they sealed up as good inverted as they were normally ?

???????

 

[mtdewelf 10+ year member]

i thought i remember someone saying that if you invert, you lose 3dbs? not sure if this is true or not.

you could remove 1 sub from the setup and not neccessary lose 3db. inverting SHOULD not really affect anything

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

Either you have it wired out of phase or you're just believing psycho acoustics. There is no "disrupted" cone area or whatever you were trying to say.

I have done this many times and there has never been a difference in sound.

 

[Relax 10+ year member]

The subs will move close to if not the saem amount of air no matter which direction they face so they should be the same loudness. Definetly not so much difference that you would be able to hear a difference in loudness.

You should invert polarity on the subs though too. They are moving with each other, but might be out of phase with the rest of the system- another reason they might sound quieter.

Also, the Box has changed.

My bet though is that you hear what you wanted to hear- the subs quieter when inverted. The could be the same loudness or louder, but since your mind wanted to hear the being quieter it made you hear that. Get a dB meter and measure.

 

[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

If both subs are facing the same way. It does NOT matter which way they are wired as long as they are the SAME!!

this isn't true.

99% of the time, there will be a noticeable difference between normal and reverse phasing.

in my car, i had to have my L7's phased in reverse, or they were WAY quieter.

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

They were probably wired out of phase from each other then.

Reversing polarty changes one thing: Whether or not they will move out first.

 

[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

yes, but you realize a sub creates not only air pressure, but an actual wave...

depending on the way your install's setup (firing forward, firing backward) or even depending on the length of your car, you may or may not need to reverse the phasing of your substage to get them into phase with the rest of your drivers.

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

While that is true, it won't make your subs much quieter unless you wire them out of phase with each other. I can flip my wires or phase switch on my amp all day and it does not get louder or quieter.

 

[pwnt by pat 10+ year member]

Phase-1 does not directly affect peak output of the subs, and shouldn't be affected by the surroundings any more than

normal phase". The only thing that should be affected is the transition to the other speakers in the system.

It's possible that with the subs inverted (naturally switching the phase) they now blend in better with the front stage and you just aren't noticing the subs as much anymore.