Speaker Polarity

How important is it to have speaker polarity right?

I can't seem to tell the difference in the sound.

TIA

"Greg William" wrote:
How important is it to have speaker polarity right?

I can't seem to tell the difference in the sound.

TIA

It is important to some. It means that the woofers are
moving in or out at the same time. Some don't notice at
all if they are different, some are very sensitive to it.
I can tell, as it sounds diffused to me.

Chip

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"Greg William" wrote in message
...
How important is it to have speaker polarity right?

Correct speaker polarity is necessary in order to ensure the drivers are
moving in/out at the same time and in phase with each other which
reinforces the sound from all speakers. If the polarity is wrong, then
one or more speakers will be driving the cones in/out in exactly the
opposite phase causing cancellation of sounds.

I can't seem to tell the difference in the sound.

You won't hear the difference in midrange and highs because by the time
the sound gets from one speaker to the other, the drivers in the other
speaker have already moved again, so there is no cancellation of sounds.
However, bass drivers move much more slowly and cancellation does occur
in the lower frequencies.

If you have a subwoofer with satellite speakers, you may not notice the
difference since most of the deep bass is handled by the sub, although
some frequencies may still be cancelled with sat speakers, although less
noticeable, it is still happening and often produces a slightly weak
mid-bass. If you have larger speakers (bookshelf or towers) you should
easily hear the difference in a loss of bass output.

Thanks for that info.

How can I test it without pulling the amp out.??

Otherwise it like I go and dismantle all of a cabinet to get to the amp?

Cheers

Greg
"Bill" wrote in message
.. .
"Greg William" wrote in message
...
How important is it to have speaker polarity right?

Correct speaker polarity is necessary in order to ensure the drivers are
moving in/out at the same time and in phase with each other which
reinforces the sound from all speakers. If the polarity is wrong, then one
or more speakers will be driving the cones in/out in exactly the opposite
phase causing cancellation of sounds.

I can't seem to tell the difference in the sound.

You won't hear the difference in midrange and highs because by the time
the sound gets from one speaker to the other, the drivers in the other
speaker have already moved again, so there is no cancellation of sounds.
However, bass drivers move much more slowly and cancellation does occur in
the lower frequencies.

If you have a subwoofer with satellite speakers, you may not notice the
difference since most of the deep bass is handled by the sub, although
some frequencies may still be cancelled with sat speakers, although less
noticeable, it is still happening and often produces a slightly weak
mid-bass. If you have larger speakers (bookshelf or towers) you should
easily hear the difference in a loss of bass output.

"Greg William" wrote in message
u...
Thanks for that info.

How can I test it without pulling the amp out.??

Otherwise it like I go and dismantle all of a cabinet to get to the amp?

Cheers

Greg


Put a pair of speakers close together with the drivers facing each other,
maybe about six inches apart.

Play something that has a lot of bass content and then on one of the
speakers switch the positive and negative wires until you find which way
gives you the most bass response.

That is the correct polarity.

Ed Chait

Greg William wrote:

Thanks for that info.

How can I test it without pulling the amp out.??

Otherwise it like I go and dismantle all of a cabinet to get to the amp?

Cheers

Greg

There are test dvd's for this, Avia is a good one to get all the
speakers and subs in phase. Also check your receiver setting for speaker
delay or distance which will affect phase between speakers. Getting it
right makes the difference between hearing very distinct surround and
just having a bunch of speakers in the room