Why invert the subs?

[45js45 10+ year member]

What does this do?Does it help?Does they have to be wired out of phase since they are firing into the enclosure?I have seen cars with this before and could never understand why.What "order" of enclosure is it?

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[09civic 5,000+ posts]

If you have limited amount of space and for looks

 

[d2k 10+ year member]

i think its done to increase internal box area.....

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

Subs perform best at a certain box size. By inverting the subs, you gain back the box space you lost from the subwoofer's displacement. It's a way of making your box "bigger" without actually making it bigger, I guess

 

[ChevyRidinLow]

first of all it all depends on your enclosure and sub. in some cases changing it can help, inverting it will change the airspace in the box and ill raise the port tuning. also with the sub firing inward it gets less surface area blocked by the basket but this is all relative to your specifics. the best reason for inverting is when you have multiples, for example 2 subs will have a certain degree of noise cancellation. if one is inverted then this reduces cancellation. its called isobaric.

 

[Bettr n' Revrse 5,000+ posts]

If you have limited amount of space and for looks

i think its done to increase internal box area.....

Yep pretty much... When you have a big sub it takes up a lot of air space in the box so if you invert it alls that takes up space is the cone and surround... And with some subs it looks awesome lol

 

[ChevyRidinLow]

Yep pretty much... When you have a big sub it takes up a lot of air space in the box so if you invert it alls that takes up space is the cone and surround... And with some subs it looks awesome lol

but remember that making a box bigger but leaving the same port raises tuning.

 

[brynm 10+ year member]

Basically just an appearance thing, one I've never been a fan of.

 

[Kyle_Keating 10+ year member]

It really doesn't save much volume or change much of anything -even big subs take up a very small % of the box volume. It's relativity unimportant compared to other factors. However, some subs don't really fit in some places so reversing them can help get them into places they normally wouldn't work it such as a shallow style box that has room in front of it for the motor.

 

[akheathen Premium Member]

first of all it all depends on your enclosure and sub. in some cases changing it can help, inverting it will change the airspace in the box and ill raise the port tuning. also with the sub firing inward it gets less surface area blocked by the basket but this is all relative to your specifics. the best reason for inverting is when you have multiples, for example 2 subs will have a certain degree of noise cancellation. if one is inverted then this reduces cancellation. its called isobaric.

um, just to clarify, isobaric is where you use one driver to "load" the cone of another driver, effectively almost adding the vas, or equivelant air pressure compression of 2 cones to one cone. there are different ways to set it up, like side x side with shared space inverted phase(planar) or firing one at the back of another, but inverting one can allow you to minimize the airspace between the 2, and decrease efficiency loss. one effect of inverting, is that the basket/motor, along with cone shape, can interrupt cone noise, or "sound" wave coming from the front of the cone, and it will operate on mostly air compression waves. and, then there is also the cooling factor. especially with small sealed enclosures, the coil has access to cooler air if played at high levels for extended periods. really, i have not seen, or experienced anyone choosing to invert on these principals, just for the 2 reasons that everyone has already stated. looks, and clearance. sub displacement is also a bit of a factor, but really only makes a little difference on smaller enclosures, and large motors/deep cones. also, to answer your other question about phase, yes, the sub will be moving in the opposite direction, since it will face the opposite direction, so, if you have more than one, the inverted one(s) should be reversed in phase, or there will be cancellation. if it is single, or they are all firing into the enclosure inverted, then phase does not need to change.

 

[ChevyRidinLow]

um, just to clarify, isobaric is where you use one driver to "load" the cone of another driver, effectively almost adding the vas, or equivelant air pressure compression of 2 cones to one cone. there are different ways to set it up, like side x side with shared space inverted phase(planar) or firing one at the back of another, but inverting one can allow you to minimize the airspace between the 2, and decrease efficiency loss. one effect of inverting, is that the basket/motor, along with cone shape, can interrupt cone noise, or "sound" wave coming from the front of the cone, and it will operate on mostly air compression waves. and, then there is also the cooling factor. especially with small sealed enclosures, the coil has access to cooler air if played at high levels for extended periods. really, i have not seen, or experienced anyone choosing to invert on these principals, just for the 2 reasons that everyone has already stated. looks, and clearance. sub displacement is also a bit of a factor, but really only makes a little difference on smaller enclosures, and large motors/deep cones. also, to answer your other question about phase, yes, the sub will be moving in the opposite direction, since it will face the opposite direction, so, if you have more than one, the inverted one(s) should be reversed in phase, or there will be cancellation. if it is single, or they are all firing into the enclosure inverted, then phase does not need to change.

right...so um exactly what i said but with the paragraph of bs to confuse a noob...good job.

 

[RAM_Designs 5,000+ posts]

but remember that making a box bigger but leaving the same port raises tuning.

It'll lower the tuning.

 

[d2k 10+ year member]

It'll lower the tuning.

lol....... now i really am confused!!

 

[RAM_Designs 5,000+ posts]

lol....... now i really am confused!!

All other things being equal, raising the box volume lowers the tuning, shrinking box size raises tuning. A bigger box doesn't require as long of a port as a smaller box, assuming port opening and desired tuning stay the same.

 

[( . )( . ) 10+ year member]

It'll lower the tuning.

Absolutely. I was thinking the same thing while reading through the thread.

Basically, there were several small positive reasons mentioned and no real, eac negatives. Combine all the positives and maybe together they'll make a big enough difference for you to try it. I ran a setup that way once - with 2x10's, each in their own ported area. I mounted them the "normal" way for a while then later reversed them. The improvement was noticeable.

All other things being equal, improvements will be less noticeable though as the box size increases.