I agree with your interest on seeing the vintage designs of speaker companies. The design in this pair of subwoofers makes me wonder why the binding posts are on the front of the speaker with no cover to hide the wiring. I am not sure what the primary reason to do this would be by Axiom.
I suspect the binding posts are actually on the *back* of the speaker and the woofer is supposed to face the wall... but when pictures are taken the speaker is turned around because otherwise the pics would be really boring. Is the other side of the speaker finished or is it "the ugly side" ?
Did a quick search on having subwoofer driver face the wall or face the listener... to the extent there was a pattern, it seemed to be "maybe sounds a tiny bit better with driver facing the wall, but then I have all those ugly wires visible" (since most subwoofers have the driver on one face and the wires on the opposite face).
AFAIK at subwoofer frequencies there is no directionality to speak of, and no real concern about the wall absorbing more sound when the woofer is facing it. A couple of people have told me that "the primary reason for having the subwoofer driver face the listener is because some people like to watch it move".
