Mounting Subs out vs in

Hey All, I've seen quite a few sub enclosures with the subs mounted out so you can see the magnet. Do you have to make any adjustments to the enclosure size, and will any sub work or do they have to be "free air"??? Thanks Guys

Thanks for the quick reply guys. Forgive my ignorance but why does the polarity need to be changed?

so that the cone of the sub is moving in the oposite direction. You want to sub to be "pushing sound waves" (i can't think of better words to use) away from the box and to your ears, not into the box.

Cool, understood Thanks again.

ravenndude... sorta but I think you're trying to say it wrong.  A sub pushes waves both ways.  In the box and out, no matter which way it faces.  You switch them because when you hear a sound it's in the form of a wave right?  So if I play a speaker right side out it plays a normal sine wave.  When I switch it the speaker now plays that sine wave but it's offset.  So while all the other speakers play normal sound this speaker (or sub) plays everything offset by half a wavelength (right everyone?).  So now this speaker's canceling all the other music out (not totally but will be a large difference).  That's why you switch it when you invert a sub.  Prevents cancelation of soundwaves.  Kinda confusing but like dude said it's hard to find words for it.

u wouldnt  invert a regular sub tho would u?  ive tried it with mine and it doesnt sound as good, and i know that u can buy subs that are meant to be mounted out but cost 2-3 times more.

hmmm...ok.  Guy at the local audio shop musta been trying to make a good sale then... so the only difference really then is that the subs have a nice looking backside to it as well so it can be used as a showpiece then?   I hate being a Newbie but i gotta start somewhere.  I have found i can get the most bass out of the amps ive tried by connecting the negative of one sub with the positive of the other, so it doesnt matter anymore if its hooked up to + or - and then hooking it up as if it were a single mono sub.  Is this bad for the amp or the sub?  I know the capacitor(s) on my last amp ended up frying and a fuse melted, but i'm not sure if its from the way it was setup or just from being an old used Pyramid amp....maybe both?