Transmission Line Enclosure

its weird because with the same 12W6 in a 2.5 cu ft ported the sub sounds better with the phase reversed...lol Also I remember when I had my old rf punchZ 10s in a SEALED box they sounded better with the phase reversed

The woofer will "sound" the same, always. What I mean, is this: If the sub were the ONLY speaker in the system, the human ear would never be able to hear an "in" phase or "out" of phase woofer, I guarantee it. Integration with the front stage is what you are hearing. If your woofer is out of phase from the fronts, the highest registers from the sub will cancel the lowest registers from the fronts, causing a suck-out in the frequency response. That is what you are experiencing. One polarity just prevents it better than the other. Since TLs and vented enclosures will have different phase characteristics in the highest harmonics, it is possible that you are hearing those differences as well, but overall, what you are hearing is an improvement in phase integration.It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

yeah...I've learned to mess with the phase setting to bring the bass up front and improve the transients. Before without reversing the phase the bass got muddy on quick double kick drums...now with the same exact setup the midbass and bass is as fast as it should be. I guess there was a lot more cancellation with the sub in phase with the fronts.