Home audio & video: Home theater black/red speaker wires mixed up. Make a diff.?
Speakers
by dminott - 4/25/08 9:32 PM In reply to: Bottom Line by windrunner2001There are also other parameters to consider when placing speakers.
Some speakers have passive reflectors. This is usually mounted on the BACK of the speaker, and must be placed the proper distance from a wall (the manual should explain this.) Other speakers have downward facing woofers so the clearance to the floor matters.
Furnishings can also make a big difference in sound quality.
Bare walls are bad news, as are bare floors. some drapery and carpeting will deaden echoes and make the sound "warmer."
To get back to the ORIGINAL question(!), if your speaker wiring is just red/black, make sure that the proper pair goes to the left speaker and that you connect red-tored and black-to-black on both speakers. Same for other speakers, as well, such as sub-woofers, etc.
Dave M.
polarity
by jasondtx - 5/19/08 9:14 AM In reply to: Bottom Line by windrunner2001Yes it makes a difference. If one speaker is out of phase with another you won't have proper imaging plus the sound can appear weak. If you have decent speakers you will notice a difference. It won't damage your speakers but it won't sound very good. When I recorded a cd awhile back the engineer recorded a mandolin track that was out of phase which he did not catch on his system. When we took it out to skywalker ranch and listened on their b&W speakers we noticed the track sound coming from behind the listener instead of in front like it was supposed to. So yes it matters!
A Quick Old Air Test
by Earl H - 4/25/08 9:21 PM In reply to: The Bottom Line by sunwatcherYears ago when we did not have the opportunity to follow wires due to them being hidden in walls, floors etc. we would hold a candle or flame approximately 6 to 12 inches from the centre of the woofer and watch as it would either blow it out or not. An out of phase speaker will actually not move the air out from the speaker as powerful as a speaker in phase. The in phase speaker cone is actually designed to push the sound forward and if the polarity is reversed it will radically alter the attack and decay times of the speaker. It definetely helps using a mono signal of equal power to both speakers to compare. You will notice the in phase speaker has more thrust forward.
It matters and here's what to listen for!
by ajn465 - 4/26/08 6:23 AM In reply to: Home theater black/red speaker wires mixed up. Make a diff.? by Davidf26If your speakers are set up in any sort of symmetrical way you can easily hear the effect of speaker phasing. Sit directly between the speakers and play something that is not in stereo (mono). If it seems to come from directly between the speakers, they are in phase. If the sound seems to lurch around as you move your head a bit (possibly even seems to eminate from outside the area enclosed by your speakers) they are most likely out of phase. Simply reverse the wires on ONE speaker and listen again.
This can also be accomplished using a top 40 song in stereo. The lead vocal is mixed to the center 99.9% of the time on modern recordings (don't use early stereo recordings eg. Beatles as this was not always the case). If the vocal sounds sharply centered, everything's fine. If it sounds "floaty" or hard to localize, try reversing ONE speaker's leads. Listen again, focusing on WHERE the sound seems to be coming from.
Red, White, Black Audio Wires
by DaveRichard - 4/26/08 7:18 AM In reply to: Home theater black/red speaker wires mixed up. Make a diff.? by Davidf26The wires would not be color coded if it made no difference as to how they were connected.
Yeah--it does
by TheDurk - 4/26/08 9:07 AM In reply to: Red, White, Black Audio Wires by DaveRichardThe difference is not dramatic, but it is there. I had an H.H. Scott tube amp back in the 1970's that actually had a polarity reversing switch on the front panel. (This is much harder to do in solid-state due to common grounds). I had Larger Advent speakers and I would demonstrate bass power by blowing out candles with a certain Ten Years After album that had a low-frequency oscillator tone in one of the songs. Switch the polarity reverser, and the flame survived. You could also hear the bass attenuation, but not dramatically. But certainly enough that you would want it hooked up correctly.
Speakers whiring
by Alain Martel1 - 4/26/08 3:26 PM In reply to: Home theater black/red speaker wires mixed up. Make a diff.? by Davidf26If the speakers are connected properly, a mono sound will be heard from dead center. If one, but not both, is connected with it's polarity inverted, then that same mono sound will be heard as two distinct sounds, or you'll be unable to locate from where it comes. It will definately won't come from the center.
If, with the balance set to neutral or center, the sound seems to come shifted to one side, flip the whires on the oposite speaker.
The key is that both speakers need to be connected with the same polarity. Just what this polarity is is, usualy, not realy importent as the signal is similar to an alternative current: you have a neutral whire and a live/signal whire.
Easiest CHECK of speaker POLARITY is WITH A BATTERY
by mrtimdillenbeck - 4/26/08 5:42 PM In reply to: Home theater black/red speaker wires mixed up. Make a diff.? by Davidf26By now you know polarity (sometimes called 'phase') IS essential. The left and right speakers must move forward and rearward in sync. If one pushes and the other pulls, you cancel out the signal. The simplest way to check polarity is with a 1.5 volt battery (C or D cell size. Touch one wire to the negative (-) terminal, the other to the positive (+)terminal. Watch the bass speaker cone. It will move forward or backward. You want the cone to move forward, so reverse the wires if necessary. Which ever wire, when touched to the plus (+)terminal of the battery, makes the cone move forward...THAT is the plus (or red) wire, and should be connected as such to your amp. Do this for both L and R speakers.
YES!...
by grc24 - 4/26/08 6:04 PM In reply to: Home theater black/red speaker wires mixed up. Make a diff.? by Davidf26It makes a huge differance. If you don't get them hooked up right, you could blow up your entire city block!!!
Kidding, of course.
grc
Notable difference
by Davidf26 - 4/26/08 7:18 PM In reply to: YES!... by grc24Thanks for all the replies. So I took the time out to disconnect all of the speaker wires and follow each one down from one end to the other and made sure the red had red at the other end and the black was black at its other end. I hooked everything up and whoa.. I simply hear the difference, mainly in there being more bass - way more. I thought it was the speakers at first (Bose Acoustimass 5) which I just bought, but I guess not. I love the system now. Thanks for all the help.
Informed
by windrunner2001 - 4/26/08 7:44 PM In reply to: Notable difference by Davidf26Yes, all that dialog for the proper connection of a few wires. Now if I can only get someone to help me find where on Satcube internet tv is HBO located for their monthly Saturday evening fight broadcasts I will be overjoyed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Speakers +/- Out-of -phrase
by jrap330 - 4/28/08 6:10 AM In reply to: Home theater black/red speaker wires mixed up. Make a diff.? by Davidf26Dave:
Everybody is correct.....you speaker will be out of phrase it will affect the sound.......BUT, you may or may not notice it. I had my speakers connected wrong was I was young......too lazy to fix and I did not notice a difference when I corrected them after 2 years. But it could affect the bass notes..who knows...most people do not have audiophile ears. Neverless correct it because that is part of a tuned sound system.
how to test for proper polarity
by ptnted - 4/28/08 6:59 AM In reply to: Speakers +/- Out-of -phrase by jrap330Is there any way to test for proper polarity with a meter (e.g. voltage, current, ohms)? I'm not sure if my outdoor speakers (far from my receiver) are wired properly and it would be difficult to use a battery at the receiver while observing the woofer.
color coding
by windrunner2001 - 4/28/08 8:34 AM In reply to: how to test for proper polarity by ptntedMany speaker wires come color coded. Copper and silver. Run Copper to positive and silver to negative. Rewire your system with fresh wiring.
testing polarity
by alaskagram - 4/28/08 11:20 PM In reply to: how to test for proper polarity by ptntedThe man with the battery was correct. If the speaker has a grill try shining a light thru to see the woofer.Years ago I worked in a stereo shop with el cheapo's all the way to audiophile.Many times I asked people to listen to a $499.00 system vs $2,500.00(ok 1981)9 out of 10 could hear the difference.2 out of the 9 cared enough to change their purchase.People may not know why, but tend to talk more,leave early or turn off the music if the sound is bad.PS . It takes two sensors, one at the source and one at the speaker,in this case the battery and your eyes.Can't do it with a standard volt meter.
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