Connecting speakers
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=29582
Printed Date: May 20, 2025 at 6:35 AM
Topic: Connecting speakers
Posted By: revo1059
Subject: Connecting speakers
Date Posted: April 02, 2004 at 10:11 PM
How can I tell (by sound?) if I have the wires reveresed on the speakers I have installed. They sound OK but I'm not sure. The wrires werent marked so I took a guess.......
Replies:
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: April 02, 2004 at 10:41 PM
Use your balance control. If the volume gets louder as you shift the balance from left to right, then one of them is out of phase with the other. Switch the wires on ONE of the speakers if this happens.
Posted By: revo1059
Date Posted: April 02, 2004 at 10:48 PM
I will try that, however what is BOTH are reversed?
Posted By: mobile1
Date Posted: April 03, 2004 at 1:19 AM
take a small battery ( 9volt max.) and put one wire on the + and one on -. if the speaker pushes out the polarities are correct. If the speaker moves in, they are reversed.
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: April 03, 2004 at 9:11 AM
If both are reversed then it doesn't matter. + and - on speakers does not matter as long as they are all the same.
Posted By: flatulatta
Date Posted: April 03, 2004 at 9:23 AM
i thought it could make the bass/midbass distorted if they where reversed???...dont know where i heard that from...
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: April 03, 2004 at 9:39 AM
Nope. A (standard dynamic) loudspeaker does not care and it has no impact on performance. In fact, since it is an AC signal, the + and - are switching back and forth all the time during normal operation. The only reason for + and - labels is so that all speakers in a system can be connected in the same relative polarity.
Posted By: revo1059
Date Posted: April 03, 2004 at 10:04 AM
Does it matter if these have crossovers attached to them. They are MB Quart RKC116 and the 4 connectors from the speaker go into a crossover then there are 2 wires coming out. If polarity doesnt matter then I'll just make sure they are all the same. Thanks for the info!!
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: April 03, 2004 at 10:38 AM
OK, now you have changed the picture a bit. Yes, crossovers make a difference. The crossover is polarity sensitive depending on how it is made, but it should be clearly marked. The speakers connection to the crossover doesn't matter, just make sure they are all the same. But the crissiver itself should be + and - marked for the inputs from your head unit. If it's not... the striped wire is usually negative.
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