speaker wire polarity

Hey XtremeMachines ,

When you say  " which speaker wire is - and + without a wire diagram" do you mean the wiring in the car or to the radio?

If you mean the wires in the car coming from the speakers themselves, then the easiest way is to tell us what car model and year you have.

Another way.  If you see the speakers, like dash or door, then using a 1.5 volt battery on the speaker wires would POP the speaker in one direction or another.  If they pop outwards then note the ploarity of the battery and the wires used.  Plus is plus and neg is neg.

If you mean speaker wires from the head unit then tell us what you got and we'll tell you what it is. 

Hey  XtremeMachines

Fortunately we have standard color codes on aftermarket radios which cover about 75% of the radios out there.

*EIA Color Codes (Electronic Industry Association) Color Codes are universal codes developed to standardize aftermarket wire colors for various common wire functions:
RED (+12V) Ignition/Accessory power. On when ignition is on or in accessory.
YELLOW (+12V) Memory. Always on even with ignition off. Keeps clock/radio memory.
BLACK Ground (-)
BLUE (+12V) Power Antenna. Antenna rises when radio is turned on. Also may be used for amp remote turn-on if there is not an extra wire for remote turn-on.
BLUE/WHITE (+12V) Power Amp turn-on. If there is no wire for remote turn-on, use power antenna lead.
ORANGE (+12V) Illumination.
ORANGE / WHITE Dimmer.
GREY (+) Right Front Speaker.
GREY/BLACK (-) Right Front Speaker.
WHITE (+) Left Front Speaker.
WHITE/ BLACK (-) Left Front Speaker.
PURPLE (+) Right Rear Speaker.
PURPLE / BLACK (-) Right Rear Speaker.
GREEN (+) Left Rear Speaker.
GREEN/ BLACK (-) Left Rear Speaker.

If it's an OEM then that's a whole 'nuther ball game!

 Question for Big Dog:

what if you cannot see the speaker in case its behind the door panel .what other way can you tell car speaker wire polarity?  Some poeple say it won't sound good if polarity is reversed ... but what do they mean by so? like it would sound less loud? or what exactly?

Hey  Big Dog 

When I would do a radio that I wasn't sure of,  I would open her up and most of the time the wire functions were written on the PCB.  But any high powered radio cannot be tested with a DDM because the + and the - are  "Floating"  and are driven by a chip or a transistor driver,  therefore would read similar values.

Hey kparkk 

Sorry I was posting when yours arrived and I missed it. 

If only either the left or the right is reversed then the sound will be out of phase. To test if this is so, simply balancing left or right would make the bass sounder heavier and balancing to the center cancels out the bass. 

If both speakers are out of phase then you'd never be able to tell just by listening. 

A trick to test a door speaker for correct polarity if you can't see the speaker without removing the grill.  Take one strand of speaker wire rigid enough to poke through the grill and lightly place it against the cone.  Have someone pulse the speaker wires using a small battery.  You should feel the cone move out against the wire if it's in phase. 

Hey Big Dog

Nice tricks ...  now a new question came up

If I am only changing one Front Right speaker and it sounds that its in phase with the Front Left ... However the polarity is reversed on both of them .. is that still ok?  if not how to tell that really the polarity is reversed.

& Also how to check if the 2 fromt speakers are in phase with the back speakers. 

Once again, Thanks .

Another one Big Dog,

What happens when speaker wires coming out of the car wires touches ground while radio is running, what does it do & what does it affect ?  Also what happens when + and - out of teh same speaker wire touch each other?

How about also speaker wires coming out of after market amplifier, if they touch ground, or if + touches - from the same speaker wire?

I didn't want to really try that on my own to figure it out ! 

Hey Big Dog

Nice tricks ...  now a new question came up

If I am only changing one Front Right speaker and it sounds that its in phase with the Front Left ... However the polarity is reversed on both of them .. is that still ok?  if not how to tell that really the polarity is reversed.

& Also how to check if the 2 fromt speakers are in phase with the back speakers. 

Once again, Thanks .

Check my post just above yours 

Hey kparkk,

To your query : What happens when speaker wires coming out of the car wires touches ground while radio is running, what does it do & what does it affect ? 

One of two things could happen.  In a high pwered radio if one of the eight wires touch ground then they ALL stop playing !  If it's a short period of time then no serious damage will occur.  A longer period will cause the radio to overheat and eventually blow.

Then you said : Also what happens when + and - out of the same speaker wire touch each other?  How about also speaker wires coming out of after market amplifier, if they touch ground, or if + touches - from the same speaker wire?

In this case only that channel will stop playing. heat up and blow.