Do I really need this massive rubber gasket?

[ilardi]

I have a pair of old (somewhere between 5-10 years) MCM subwoofers (see photo) that are well made and have good specs. I have finally found a good use for them but was wondering about the need for the massive rubber gasket as well as the rubber magnet boot? 1) Does the rubber boot serve any purpose other than cosmetics? I am thinking of removing it. 2) As far as the gasket goes I certainly understand that I need something on the underside of the flange, but what purpose can it possibly serve by wrapping around on top? I notice a lot of subwoofers (some Titanics and TC sounds for instance) are made this way. Is it possibly there because the speaker is meant to be mounted from the interior?

Also, the speaker surround is glued on to the top of the flange but my experience with these is that unless you use a washer (which won't really fit due to the construction) when you install the mounting screws they tend to tear at the surround. This just seems dumb to me but this is certainly not the only speaker I have bought with this problem. Again, this would not be a problem for rear mounting. I am considering fixing this problem by installing an HDF ring around the perimeter which will protect the surround. Anyway, I would appreciate your comments.

Terry

[GloBug]

That gasket would work for mounting on either side of the baffle.

No you "need" it for surface mounting?
If you have a vented box with carpet then in that case I would say no.
A sealed box with a hard surfaced baffle, you should use that or a single layer baffle between the basket and baffle as you already know.

[cyclecamper]

Rubber on the magnets is sometimes added to make it look bigger, but JBL used them with great success on a number of pro drivers, so they sometimes do help keep the frame from ringing.

The front rubber, I hae no clue without closer inspection.