I've seen subs mounted opposite of the traditional way with the magnet out and the sub firing into the enclosure. I've been into audio for years, but I've never asked this question or heard of why it is done.

I would think that you would mount subs inverted for space reasons, i.e. the magnet is too deep for the enclosure or the space, but I don't know. Maybe it's also for appearance.

What are the pros and cons of mounting the sub in this manner? It would seem that it wouldn't hit as hard or have the same results as a traditional enclosure mounted sub because the cone is inside the box and the magnet is outside, so the pressurization is being created by the sides of the cone between the surround and the spider.

 

Its mostly for looks, but it can be done for clearance like you mentioned, or airspace, as the sub's frame no longer displaces some of the box volume like in a traditional install

 

I think it is for appearance. i don't really think it makes a difference. I am also and audio head too and don't see much of a difference in the bass. I've done the inverted sub in other cars but I think it's solely for looks. As bad as I would love to try to invert one of my 12W6V2's in the G it's not happening...lol.

 

Mainly for looks, but when you have a sub that looks like this, how can you NOT mount it backwards.

 

This sums it up perfectly. I actually am running inverted with my setup because I wanted the extra volume that was taken from displacement by the magnets. I noticed an improvement in frequency response this way but this was an application specific improvement.

 

the only downside is that with some subws, you may notice some port noise coming out of the vent pole piece...but when the sub is going, unless your ear is right next to it, you wont notice it...that and the fact that anyhting around the subwoofer is pretty much off limites to anyhting you wanna haul in the trunk

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Thanks for the replies. It's good to know the performance isn't much, if any, different for inverted subs in case I decide to go that route sometime.