Inverting subwoofers

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Hey guys I've been searching around trying to find the answer to this question with no luck. I've seen plenty of topics/build logs where subs are being inverted but no real how-to on the wire aspect which brings me to my question. Do I have to do anything special to the wiring if I want to invert my subs? I slightly remember reading something about needing to change the polarity. Is this true? If so, is there a setting on the amp or do I just switch the neg/pos wires on the amp? This would be the first time I'm trying this. The reason I want to do it is the baskets on my Nightshades are the oldschool sexy chrome and my box is a little on the small side. I hear running them inverted would help me out in both of those departments. Any tips or information I can get would be fantastic.

[sefugi 166]

I just reversed the wires on my son's sub that is mounted inverted and Watts09 did the same on his setup. Love a subs sexy rear-end!!

[sefugi 166]

Here are a few shots of my son's setup if you never saw the install: of course he doesn't have a sexy chrome basket.

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So you just reversed the wires on the subwoofer terminals then, eh? Would it be any different if I just did it from the amp or does it make a difference? Sorry if the questions seem dumb, I just want to make sure I have it all set up correctly.

The Nightshades are dual 1 ohm and wired to a 1 ohm load. Wired up normally it looks like the picture below. The wiring really makes my head spin sometimes. lol

[Tirefryr 1,742]

You don't NEED to change the polarity. The only time you absolutely need to is when you are sharing the same air space if you have more than one driver, such as Sefugi did in the photos. You want all the drivers to move in the same direction, so if he would have flipped that one sub, and not switched the polarity, it would have been moving in the opposite direction causing cancellation. If you only have one driver, you need to change nothing. If you are running more than one driver and running them all inverted, you need to do nothing.

[jonbearsmt 919]

ah thats what it was.. when havin 1 sub inverted and another normally mounted in a shared space then 1 must be reversed

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You don't NEED to change the polarity. The only time you absolutely need to is when you are sharing the same air space if you have more than one driver, such as Sefugi did in the photos. You want all the drivers to move in the same direction, so if he would have flipped that one sub, and not switched the polarity, it would have been moving in the opposite direction causing cancellation. If you only have one driver, you need to change nothing. If you are running more than one driver and running them all inverted, you need to do nothing.

Thanks! This is exactly the answer I was looking for.

If it weren't so damn hot outside I would go invert them right now. It's around 105*F right now so I'm staying in the AC. I will be sure to post my before/after results.

[Shogen 325]

stop being lazy!!! go do it!!!

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You make a very good point. Really the only thing holding me back at the moment is a drill. I don't think it's going to go over to well with a screw driver.

[jonbearsmt 919]

stop being lazy!!! go do it!!!

obliviously someone who is from the north ..105 F with 86 percent humidity.. lazy has little to do with it!!

[Shogen 325]

lol.... yes sir.... High 90s with some humidity is caca for me.... I retract the lazy and say BE A MAN!!! lol

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Subs will be inverted tomorrow unless my friend calls me back about the drill within a reasonable amount of time tonight. I work bright and early in the morning so no late night for me.

[burko 6]

Update?

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Unfortunately I haven't had a drill to use. I'm going out to the lake house in a couple hours to get it. My dad left all his tools there before he was re-stationed in Georgia. Will post pics as soon as it gets done! My work schedule and this Texas heat doesn't make it any easier.

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Went to the lake house to get the tools and ending up having to fight off these crazy giant red hornets. A few nests decided to develop in the shed so naturally I had to defend our territory. Resilient bugs they were as the "Insta kill" Hornet/Wasp killer barely dazed them. As soon as I got back into town it started to rain. Just my luck. It's supposed to rain the next couple days so I will have to wait it out.