speaker polarity question.... (1 Viewer)

[Keith M.]

I am currently building my HT and have installed speaker wall plates. The (+) and (-) are not marked on the back where the wires will be soldered to the plate.

When I hook the speakers up, how will I know I guessed right? Basically, How can I successfully check if the polarity of the speaker connections are correct?

Should I use a test disc? What should I listen for?


Any help greatly appreciated...


Thanks in advance...

 

[Jeremy Anderson]

A friend mentioned this to me, and the idea is sound:
He hooked a 9-volt battery to the leads on one end and then checked the polarity at the other with a cheap volt-meter. If it reads 9 volts, then you'll know which lead is which.

 

[PaulDF]

Actually, it'll read 9 volts either way. Just that one will be positive, and the other Negative.

Great idea!

 

[Marc H]

You can tell just by listening too.
If the vocalist is dead centre and you can hear good bass, they are in phase.
If they are out of phase, the vocals will sound very wide and the bass disappears.

 

[Chris Lanni]

Keith,

The easiest way is to look carefully at your speaker wire. One of the conductors will have writing on the side, and the other will not. Example: Make the one marked with writing the positive and the other the negative. Hook the marked wire up to the positive of your receiver and the other wire to the negative. When you get to the wallplate, hook them up however you want. When you hook up the wire from your speakers to the wallplate hook the one with the markings up to the same "marked" wire on your wallplate.

In Christ
Chris