speaker polarity
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=96700
Printed Date: May 20, 2024 at 7:21 PM
Topic: speaker polarity
Posted By: ice32
Subject: speaker polarity
Date Posted: August 27, 2007 at 11:16 PM
Hey all,
i'm replacing the front speakers in my car and i'm trying to work out which speaker lead is positive and negative, is there any easy way of testing these as they are not marked?
any advice would be great, thanks
Replies:
Posted By: dwarren
Date Posted: August 27, 2007 at 11:22 PM
Do you have the original speakers with the plugs? If so, use a nine volt battery and "pop" the speaker and note which way the cone moves based on which wires from the battery ( +, _ ) are hooked up. Other wise hook a speaker up, and look/feel which way the cone is moving primarily. Perhaps you could locate a wiring diagram. There is great database on this site. -------------
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: August 28, 2007 at 7:10 AM
WOW, I never knew you could see/feel the phasing of a speaker.
Posted By: sarcomax
Date Posted: August 28, 2007 at 10:56 AM
You must become one with the speaker, just be careful.... If you become one with an out of phase speaker, then you too will be out of phase... If you do the connect the speaker and watch for polarity, make sure that you use something that simulates the nine volt battery pop. Track one of off the Square Batt's debut CD "Gotta test that phase" is good because of the 9 volt battery solo at the begining. Kidding of course. Something with just a kick drum will work, but please save yourself time and headaches and search for the diagram, or give us the info and we will do our best to get the info for you.
Posted By: ice32
Date Posted: August 29, 2007 at 8:50 PM
Hey guys,
its a long story, but the general gist is, i replaced the head unit and wired up the wires to a pioneer harness then changed the speakers in the front, they seem to have burnt out or just aren't getting enough power, i rechecked the wiring after a few days of running it the way i started with and after further testing realised they where out of phase, so i reversed the wiring to what i assumed was correct, and they run now but produce little sound, so i bought a set of new speakers to replace them, and i don't wanna make the same mistake twice, so i was wondering if there was anyway i could use say a DMM to measure which was positive and negative wires, as i'm not sure the harness kept the original wires the same,therefor making a wiring diagram useless.
i did the speaker pop with the battery, so i know which is positive and negative on the speaker, i'm looking for a way to find out which is positive and negative on the car end, without having to rewire it so i no for sure which is which. will it wreck the speaker if its wired in reverse phase for a few mins?
Is the only way to truly test that the speaker is wired right to feel which way its going?
thanks
chris.
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: August 29, 2007 at 9:30 PM
wiring the speaker out of phase for a few minuter or a few years will not hurt the speaker at all. The only thing it will hurt is the quality of sound.
Posted By: ice32
Date Posted: August 29, 2007 at 9:34 PM
for good? or just why its wired out of phase?
Posted By: sarcomax
Date Posted: August 30, 2007 at 10:43 AM
The sound will only be hurt while the speaker is out of phase. The speaker will never be damaged just by wiring it up backwards. If you don't believe us, take your car to a shop and have someone hook it up for you.
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