Inverting Subs DOES Matter!

[Big Dee 10+ year member]

OK people.

Even if he only has 1 sub the phase DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

If you invert your sub you need to switch the phase in order for it to sound like it did before.

Subs in phase and out of phase sound much different.

Before you say that you have proven your theory switch the damn phase.

 

[pwnt by pat 10+ year member]

turn off your front stage and see how much of a difference you can tell - should be almost none and any difference is probably psychoachoustics

 

[wilzyx 5,000+ posts]

why dont you just change the ****ing polarity and see which one you like best? its not ****ing rocket science jesus.

 

[MrSwiss 10+ year member]

its in a sealed box actually, not ported, and its alot quieter, dosent hit the lows as good, but sounds punchier? i beleive it is
and do i reverse polarity or not

it also affects displacement issues. inverting will give your box more area, though it isnt that crucial.

 

[Josh #44 10+ year member]

This is one of the stupidest threads ever...To the original poster: know what youre talking about, for sure, before you go speaking out. LOL

 

[iamamp3pimp 5,000+ posts]

why is everyone getting so pissed off!!!!!!

 

[CBFryman2 5,000+ posts]

LAWL @ Thread

 

[project f-150 10+ year member]

OK people.
Even if he only has 1 sub the phase DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

If you invert your sub you need to switch the phase in order for it to sound like it did before.

Subs in phase and out of phase sound much different.

Before you say that you have proven your theory switch the damn phase.

Would you like to explain how it makes a difference? Dont you understand how a speaker and power it recieves from an amplifier works?

The speakers is recieving an A/C signal that will cause it to move in and out from its resting position the same amount each way. All reversing the polarity does is change which direction the sub is moving for each half of one cycle. Do you understand that or do i need to simplify it even more for you?

 

[CBFryman2 5,000+ posts]

Phase determins how it will blend with the front stage. Most people still have some of the frequincies the sub is playing being played by the front stage. Also, if two octaves that are close togather are out of phase it could cause some cancelation issues just from that in some instances.

 

[xtremekustomz 10+ year member]

Would you like to explain how it makes a difference? Dont you understand how a speaker and power it recieves from an amplifier works?
The speakers is recieving an A/C signal that will cause it to move in and out from its resting position the same amount each way. All reversing the polarity does is change which direction the sub is moving for each half of one cycle. Do you understand that or do i need to simplify it even more for you?

First of all inverting the sub does make a difference in sound. First of all it increases the box volume so if your box was on the small side it should play a little lower than before but shouldn't become more "punchy". Second it somewhat decreases the cone area because of the basket and magnet. Third if the woofer is out of phase it will make a difference and will definately be noticible if there are 2 woofers and 1 is out of phase and the other is not. I can tell a difference when I reverse the polarity on my head unit for the woofer. It tends to bring the sub frequencies forward but since I reversed the polairty on my midbass I don't keep it that way.

 

[Astyl 10+ year member]

You guys are arguing stupid points.. First off why would i wire one sub out of phase? Do you think ide really invert one sub, and leave the other one like it is so it looks like ***? I obviously did the exact same setup with both seperate drivers so its not the subs being out of phase with each other, its something else

 

[project f-150 10+ year member]

Phase determins how it will blend with the front stage. Most people still have some of the frequincies the sub is playing being played by the front stage. Also, if two octaves that are close togather are out of phase it could cause some cancelation issues just from that in some instances.

Yes your right it does. But the quote I went against said nothing bout the rest of the system. It just said that basically if you take one sub and switch the polarity on it that you will get a different sound. WHICH YOU WONT.

And to dig into what you said a little deeper. How can two octaves be that close to each other? You realize one octave is a measure of one frequency being exactly double onother? And you are talking bout people having the front stage playing the same as the sub bass so we will take a higher sub bass frequency. say 100hz. one octave from it will be 200 hz. How can those be close? Also taking that same frequency they wave is about 11 feet long. So if you think about it if a sub is in the trunk and your midbass is in the front door your looking at about a 5 foot difference. Which would put your system out of phase anyway. So guess what you've got cancellation just from placement. But that is just where your subs and midbass frequencies meet. But for your sub bass in or out of phase would not cause a problem. Even if you did have your midbass playing down to 20hz the size of the created wave would not be enough to cause an audible cancellation in the subs wave. even if they were 180 deg. of each other.

 

[Big Dee 10+ year member]

Would you like to explain how it makes a difference? Dont you understand how a speaker and power it recieves from an amplifier works?

It's tiny unicorns that dance on the back of the speaker, right?

The speakers is recieving an A/C signal that will cause it to move in and out from its resting position the same amount each way. All reversing the polarity does is change which direction the sub is moving for each half of one cycle. Do you understand that or do i need to simplify it even more for you?

Thanks Captain Obvious.

I was referring to cancellation of frequencies that are played by both the sub and mids. If I switch the polarity on my sub it sounds much weaker because I get cancellation of upper bass.

A sub by itself will sound the same, yeah, but who here plays a sub in their car without any mids? I would say none, which is why I assumed I didn't need to put any more info in my post. Other people knew exactly what I was talking about.

Oh and there's no need to be condescending.

 

[lincolnls 10+ year member]

do you know how a speaker makes a sound?

it makes sound waves.

in order for the sub to make a 20hz tone it needs to cycle 20 times a second, a 30hz tone..30 times a second.

it does magicallmake noise form the voice coil, it makes sound waves by movicg throughout its excursion.

so a sub inverted or convential mounted does make a differnce, if you want to make a good A/B comparison make sure the sub's polarity is opposite as it was when you tested it conventially mounted

 

[xtremekustomz 10+ year member]

You guys are arguing stupid points.. First off why would i wire one sub out of phase? Do you think ide really invert one sub, and leave the other one like it is so it looks like ***? I obviously did the exact same setup with both seperate drivers so its not the subs being out of phase with each other, its something else

My final thoughts. If it sounded better the other way, do it the other way. If you like how it sounds now, leave it like it is. If everything is the exact same as it was when the basket was inward and you have tried reversing polarity, there is nothing you can do to make it sound any different. And yes, lots of people invert 1 to show off the back of a nice looking woofer but it is mainly in a nice fiberglass enclosure or in a system with 3 woofers.