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How do you all ensure correct polarity with aftermarket cables?

Hi Everyone, 

I recently got some upgraded cabling for my Sennheiser HD6XX, and unlike the stock cables which are labeled L/R and make it obvious which way they’re supposed to be plugged in, the aftermarket cable has none of these conveniences. L/R is easy to determine of course, but phase/polarity is a little trickier. 
I’ve tried using this tool here: https://www.audiocheck.net/soundtests_headphones.php

The test for this issue is the center/twisted sound file, but I find the description and experience kind of subjective.. how am I supposed to know if it sounds centered, or twisted up in my head lol. This is a lot more straightforward with speakers, since you can just point them at each other and flip polarity until you hear significant canceling and then you know you’ve got it wrong and need to change one speaker. 
How do you all handle this?
128x128dougeyjones

Showing 1 response by cleeds

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cleeds
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Terminals are clearly marked for polarity for the sole purpose to insure that both the Left and Right speakers are wired with the same polarity.
That is mistaken. There can be other reasons that it's necessary to maintain polarity.

For example, there are servo-controlled woofer systems that require  the amplifier output to have the same polarity as the preamplifier output. Major problems can follow if the two are not in agreement.
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