AC polarisation. Does it matter?


I just realised that most of my cords switch from positive to negative and negative to positive from the male end of my cords to the iec's Does this matter? The two cords that are correct are the cord to my CDP and the cord to my tuner but the cord to my Hydra which feeds the whole system is reversed. I was just wondering if this is an issue or very minor if an issue at all.
Thanks for your help.
128x128mitchb

Showing 2 responses by sugarbrie

The AC polarity could also be off on the wall plug. No reason to believe the crew that installed the outlets in the house got all the wires put on the plugs the right way. They work very fast.

You can buy a polarity checker at most hardware stores. Well worth it for a small price.

Conrad Johnson use to put 2 prong AC plugs on some of their preamps, so you could flip the cord and desire which ways sounds best to you.
Rwwear

It is unfortunitely a well documented fact that plugs get wired backwards sometimes. That is the cause of some electrical house fires when certain critical equipment gets plugged in. Can you say POP !!!

When I bought my current house, the inspector I hired found three light switches wired wrong.

In my old house I had problems with the AC/heat pump. It would blow the breaker once a month. The repair person I hired found that the control box for the heating system was wired wrong by whoever installed it.

The problem could be there for years and never be found. Most things don't need the correct polarity (anything with a 2 prong plug). Even grounded plugs don't necessarily need the correct polarity.

Some audio power cord makers do make reverse polarity power cords. They do have their uses for altering the sound. A friend made his subwoofer more lean and tight with a reverse cord.