No harm in trying it both ways. But, it is not necessarily the case that the best orientation is all drivers in phase. For MANY speakers, the best integration is with a driver out of phase with respect to the other. This is dependend on the design, particularly the crossover.
I like the Duos myself, but I too find there are problems with the woofer. I doubt that it has to do with the woofer being out of phase. Woofers are quite hard to integrate with horn upper frequency drivers. Many horn systems eschew really deep bass in favor of faster drivers that can keep up with the horns. Perhaps driver transient response is an issue, perhaps something else. I found the bass on the Duo a bit uneven, such that certain notes seem to be a bit overemphasize and bloated. But, like EVERY speaker, compromises have to be made; on balance, the Duos are quite nice speakers.
I like the Duos myself, but I too find there are problems with the woofer. I doubt that it has to do with the woofer being out of phase. Woofers are quite hard to integrate with horn upper frequency drivers. Many horn systems eschew really deep bass in favor of faster drivers that can keep up with the horns. Perhaps driver transient response is an issue, perhaps something else. I found the bass on the Duo a bit uneven, such that certain notes seem to be a bit overemphasize and bloated. But, like EVERY speaker, compromises have to be made; on balance, the Duos are quite nice speakers.