Polarity, phase ?

Apr 27, 2009 4 Replies

Hello,



This websites/review of the speakers/satelites of the surround sound system gigaworks s750 mentions "polarity" and "phase".



There are two wires for each speaker/satelite. One wire is "marked" with a red ring around it.



I remember one red ring got lost... so I am not sure if I reconnected the speaker correctly.



So my questions are:


  1. Could connecting them wrong cause any damage to the electronics ?


  1. What would be the effect of connecting them wrongly ?



Maybe sound was stop working ? or sound different ?



Review/website:



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Bye, Skybuck.


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Nah, it wont damage anything. It just changes the sound a bit.

Rheilly P

Experiment with reversing the phasing on the unmarked one. Bass may be a little better when phase is right.

John

Look at the wires real close. One wire (conductor) may be a different color or one edge of one of the wires may have a "rib". Match that feature with the wire that still has the red ring (Red Sharpie time).

Another standby is the "battery" test if you can see the Woofer cone. Use a "AA" size battery hold the red ring wire on the + terminal (small end), momentarily touch the (DO NOT HOLD FOR LONG) other wire to the - terminal, observe which way the cone moves. Now repeat for the other. The "red" is when the cone moves the SAME direction. This technique is also useful when you have multiple brands/models as older speakers did not always have the same "polarity" as other brands.

Most of the time it doesn't matter, but it could be bad if there are any electronics like filters inside the speaker.

If the phase is reversed, one speaker will "push" the air, while the other one will "pull" the air, so you'll have a net loss of power.

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