[Bob in St. Louis]

Maybe I'm thick, but that driver is still going to be mounted via the flange with the magnet weight/mass hanging off of it. Magnet mounting is designed to hold the driver by it's greatest weight/mass, no? Thus eliminating the stress on the baffle, yes?

I agree Mark.
They're just adding mass to the part that's hanging off in mid air.
Not sure if "stress on the baffle" is of much concern though.

Bob

[serengetiplains]

And of less concern the higher the baffle's mass.

And not to overlook: the mass of the part hanging in air does something relevant, with a small cost paid elsewhere.  Baskets are not made of mass-light cardboard.

I find it interesting to view high end models of anything to catch a glimpse, so far as I can, about what a cost-no-object designer considers relevant.  In the Alian mid, one can see an obvious concern for magnet stability, which supports MrC's contention that magnet bracing has sonic consequences, at least in some cases.

[Browntrout]

I think the relevant difference between mounting the basket to the bafle and mounting the magnet to the frame/baffle is one of tension/compression.
  With the normal basket mount you have a nonsymetrical action about the basket with the top being in tension (supporting the component of gravity related to the mass of the magnet) and the bottom being compressed against the baffle.
  With the more centralised magnet mounting you have really neither compression or tension in the drivers frame. This will to some degree create a different and possibly more desirable 'freedom of energy' around the structure. There will be, from the photo, less damping of very high frequency vibrations caused by the voice coil and assuming the design requires coupling to the floor this might well be preferable.
  I do wonder about the fit between flange and baffle though, for this to be airtight the basket must be put under tension though it will be uniform around it's circumference which is again better than the baffle mount.

   Thinking some more the placement of metal around the magnet for magnet mounting will increase the field strength outside the driver and change the characteristics of the field inside the driver. This might be the most noticable side effect of magnet mounting. Perhaps a nylon/teflon type plastic collar would be preferable to metal?

[Bob in St. Louis]

Isn't that anodized aluminum?
I would think that wouldn't interfere with the VC. Just a guess though.
I would assume as long as it's not a ferrous material is *should* be fine.

Regarding the magnet hanging putting more pressure on the bottom of the flange, has the thought occurred to you that this might distort the cone. Just a bit?
Curious if that thought occurred to anybody else.

Bob

[Browntrout]

Even if it is aluminium what occurs is the generation of eddy currents in the aluminium by the continually changing field. See here for an explanation:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddy_current

It's quite a usefull thing to be aware of in hifi as they can be induced in any conducting material. This line here is of particular importance as we are talking about a speaker reproducing music....
         " The stronger the applied magnetic field, or the greater the electrical conductivity of the conductor, or the faster the field that the conductor is exposed to changes, then the greater the currents that are developed and the greater the opposing field."
  So in a good driver we have a strong field that is changing very quickly and so will experience an opposing field induced in the magnet by the eddy currents created in the aluminium.

[Bob in St. Louis]

I see. Thanks for the explanation, I stand corrected. 

Bob