speaker connectors (phase)

Posted by: woody on 27 May 2003

A mate just told me that he recommends switching the red and black speaker connectors round as it *can* make a huge difference...any thoughts?

Cheers,

Andrew
Posted on: 27 May 2003 by Onthlam
Woody,

Just say,"NO!"..........
The music could be out of phase and your world will just be muddled.

There is no real reason except maybe tuning a sub to a particular speaker. Why would you want to change polarity? Why would he even suggest it?

Regards,

Marc
Posted on: 27 May 2003 by dave simpson
I wonder if he is referring to "absolute polarity" (reversing positive and negative on both channels at either the amp or speaker end of the cable run)? If so, the results vary with recordings.

regards,

dave
Posted on: 27 May 2003 by woody
absolute polarity, yeah - ie changing both. Just something my mate reckoned improved his system (not naim though). Guess maybe it's a system thing - mine sounds good to me, though Smile
Posted on: 27 May 2003 by syd
I've read about this in magazine reviews where your told that a particular product is phase inverting but I've never read an explanation of why they do this. Also why dont they just swap the speaker outputs at the rear of the amp so you dont have to mess about with the cables. Anybody enlighten me please.

Yours in Music

Syd
Posted on: 27 May 2003 by Arthur Bye
Syd wrote;

quote:
Also why dont they just swap the speaker outputs


I've always wondered about this. I've had a CJ Premier 17LS pre (for my periodic forays into the Dark Side) that inverts polarity. Why didn't they just switch the pre-outs polarity?

I know it's a simple matter to reverse the speaker wires but I still wonder why.

Arthur Bye
Posted on: 27 May 2003 by dave simpson
quote:
Why didn't they just switch the pre-outs polarity?


I believe it requires an additional stage of sound-degrading circuitry..but don't quote me ;-)

regards,

dave