Speaker Wires

N

neale dunham

Experienced
Hi Guys,

In the absence of not knowing where else I can post this question, I have a little 5w valve amp combo that currently doesn't have a speaker.

I am looking to get it up and running again.

Now, the speaker connections are coloured black and white and plug into the chassis of the amp via a right angled jack.

My problem is, which is positive and which is negative? As I want to ensure that I don't wire the speaker out of phase.

Is there any way to determine this visually, or will I need some test equipment?

Thanks.
 
Phase is a relative thing and only matters if you have more than one speaker. You can't be out of phase with only one speaker in the cabinet.
 
Thanks Iaresee.

Good to know.

Although, I thought I read somewhere that if the wires are mixed up, the speaker will push when its supposed to pull and vice versa?

Maybe that's a separate issue to being out of phase but its this issue I am trying to avoid?
 
In all of the amps I own, the positive is wired to the tip and negative to the sleeve. This holds true on all of my speaker cabinets, as well. It’s a safe bet yours is also wired that way.
 
neale dunham said:
Thanks Iaresee.

Good to know.

Although, I thought I read somewhere that if the wires are mixed up, the speaker will push when its supposed to pull and vice versa?

Maybe that's a separate issue to being out of phase but its this issue I am trying to avoid?
Click to expand...
That only matters in the context of more than one speaker.
 
Typically what I do when making a speaker cable would be white wire to the tip and black wire to the sleeve of the 1/4" jack,
 
One way to verify speaker polarity is to touch a 9 volt battery across the speaker terminals or wires for a sec. If the polarity is correct, the speaker will push out. If it's reversed, it will pull in.
 
So Which colour wire should I connect to which terminal on the speaker?

Or as Iaresee says...... Does polarity not matter on a single speaker?
 
For what it's worth... In the high-end audio world, phase does matter. I have a pair of very high-end electrostatic speakers which are the heart and soul of my stereo system. When I first set them up, I followed the manufacturer's instructions and one of their "procedures" is to determine the correct absolute phase of both speakers. I won't bore anyone with the details, but essentially you connect both speakers one way, listen exhaustively, then reverse the phase of both speakers, and listen exhaustively again (important to note that in both cases, both speakers are in the same phase relative to one another). Anyhow, the short story is that in the "wrong" phase, the stereo soundstage is in front of the speakers, whereas in the correct phase the soundstage is behind the speakers, much wider, much more airy, and much more natural sounding.

Would this matter at all with a single speaker? I don't know, and I suppose there really isn't any such thing as as a stereo soundstage with a single speaker... But is there anything else? Again, I don't know. I also don't know the science behind the above story, nor am I here to preach that it does make a difference... But I've even done a blind test with my electrostatic speakers, and I can assure you that anyone who listens even moderately carefully will hear the difference clearly when both speakers are in reverse phase.

This "intermission" probably didn't help anyone, but I thought some of you might find it interesting.
 
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