what does everyone perfer? down firing or front firing subwoofers? i have had a down firing for years now and i love it. would i hear i big differnce in a front firing subwoofer?

General consensus is that there is little difference...

The one issue would be a down firing sub on a hardwood floor with wood subfloor, which favors front firing as the opportunity of energy transfer to the floor is mitigated.

The other issue would be young children playing in the general vicinity, which favors down firing to mitigate possible abuse and damage.

Basically, front-firing is probably the better choice if you're using your sub to crossover from bookshelf speakers with a highish (80hz to 120hz) crossover. If your main speakers are near-full range, you can crossover lower, in which case front firing vs down firing is basically the same either way.

One thing I did read on the ACI website though is that the distortion harmonics from a downfiring sub will be less noticable than a front firing sub, all else equal. I.e. if its producing 240hz (in the form of distortion) less of that sound will get to your ears. While I understand the reasoning behind it, I'm not sure how much this really matters in practice... so you're better off judging a sub on its overall merits and not whether it is front or down firing.