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Thread: Speaker wires

  1. #1
    Senior Member r_j_k_p's Avatar
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    Speaker wires

    was playing around with speaker wires, and connect a positive end to the amp, and the positive end to the speaker as per normal.
    Then did the same for the negative.

    However if i switch the wires around at the speaker end, (ie, wire connected to positive in amp, but negative to speaker) the speaker still works the same as if connected the other way.

    Why is this?
    Dentist, and general teeth lover.

  2. #2
    Senior Member stavroshamster's Avatar
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    Re: Speaker wires

    Electronics isn't really my thing, but afaik its coz it's still forming a circuit no matter which way round it is wired - so it will still work.
    However, the speaker will not be in phase which means that the speaker cone will move in and out at a different time to other correctly wired speakers, which mucks up the sound.

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    Re: Speaker wires

    Speakers dont contain any real electronics (well unless its got a crossover built in), it will work, but as said it will be out of phase, which means in will sort-of move oposite than the way it should, when the speaker should be pushed out, it will be fully in, and the same is true otherwise.

  4. #4
    Moosing about! CAT-THE-FIFTH's Avatar
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    Re: Speaker wires

    Like the other says the speakers will be out of phase meaning your music will sound weird when played through the system.

  5. #5
    blueball
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    Re: Speaker wires

    As long as both speakers are wired the same way it doesn't really matter for most speakers.

  6. #6
    DILLIGAF GoNz0's Avatar
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    Re: Speaker wires

    if you have 2 subs in 1 box and connect out of phase they will cancel each other out.

    if you mount 2 subs face to face you have to connect 1 out of phase so they move as one.

  7. #7
    Senior Member r_j_k_p's Avatar
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    Re: Speaker wires

    Thanks for the responses guys, may get a digital volt meter and confirm they are not out of phase.
    Dentist, and general teeth lover.

  8. #8
    DILLIGAF GoNz0's Avatar
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    Re: Speaker wires

    no need, unplug one, if it gets louder they were out of phase

  9. #9
    Senior Member r_j_k_p's Avatar
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    Re: Speaker wires

    Quote Originally Posted by GoNz0 View Post
    no need, unplug one, if it gets louder they were out of phase
    just did that to one speaker, and i unplugged one cable, and the sound did go quieter, therfore they were out of phase.

    Just to confirm, when 'in phase', if only one cable is in, there should be no sound at all coming from the speaker?
    Dentist, and general teeth lover.

  10. #10
    DILLIGAF GoNz0's Avatar
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    Re: Speaker wires

    if it got quieter its in phase and working as they should, out of phase and the cancel each other out so unplugging a speaker makes them sound louder. if that makes sence.

  11. #11
    Senior Member r_j_k_p's Avatar
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    Re: Speaker wires

    how can unplugging one speaker make it louder?

    Diagram time:



    So what should happen here to the left speaker in comparison to if the red wire WAS connected.
    Should the sound just cut out alltogether or just be lower volumed?
    Dentist, and general teeth lover.

  12. #12
    Senior Member stavroshamster's Avatar
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    Re: Speaker wires

    Quote Originally Posted by r_j_k_p View Post
    how can unplugging one speaker make it louder?

    Diagram time:



    So what should happen here to the left speaker in comparison to if the red wire WAS connected.
    Should the sound just cut out alltogether or just be lower volumed?
    If the speakers are out of phase then unplugging one may, in theory, increase the percieved volume of the sound because previously sound waves coming from the out of phase speaker cancel out the sound of the other speaker, because they will be inverted. In practice, how much this happens will depend on the environment in which the speakers are placed, so it might not be noticeable.

    The best way to check your speakers are in phase is simply to connect the pos to pos and neg to neg terminals. They should be clearly labelled and the speaker wire should have markings so that you can make sure that it is connected properly.

    If one wire is not joined to the speaker then there will be NO sound as the circuit will be broken. All speakers do is convert an electrical signal into noise via an electromagnet and some cardboard, if there is no circuit, there is no current and therefore no sound.

  13. #13
    Seething Cauldron of Hatred TheAnimus's Avatar
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    Re: Speaker wires

    Quote Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH View Post
    Like the other says the speakers will be out of phase meaning your music will sound weird when played through the system.
    No.

    The human ear and brain simply can't process the signals fast enough.

    From the Nyquist rule we know that we sample our audio at twice the rate we can discern. The way the ear works is its looking ultimately for a difference, be that wave from the cone going in or out, it will sound the same just be in opposing phase.

    Now as god when he created man in his own image didn't like us much, he gave us rather poor hearing compared to dogs and the like (which therefore must be gods chosen race).

    As such the only difference you might get is a volume cancelling effect that probably is only going to be apparent at lower frequencies (think of the cone moving slower with a margin of error, the fewer agitations the less effect the error has).
    throw new ArgumentException (String, String, Exception)

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