Out of phase?


New home. Old stereo. My rig is sounding like crap, so I threw in the second Stereophile test CD. On the phase test, "The Fender bass guitar you are about to hear ...", it's all backwards. There is a central image when there isn't supposed to be one and vice-versa. All the connections have been checked and rechecked and then checked again. Speakers -- and all else -- wired up correctly. Any thoughts about what could be causing this? It's a really asymetrical room, with an open stairway on one side and a lost up above on the other. Is that what this is likely all about? If so, what does one do about a particularly odd space? (Short of moving, that is. I just bought this place.) Thanks. -- Howard
hodu
Hi Howard, I had the same problem, sort of. I bought a used pair of Reference 3A speakers and they didn't sound right so I put on my Stereophile test CD and checked the phase track, and sure enough the speakers were wired out of phase internally, so I swapped the cables red to black and black to red on only one speaker and everything was fine. Try it. Randy
"New home. Old stereo"
...
"All the connections have been checked and rechecked and then checked again. Speakers -- and all else -- wired up correctly".

If nothing has changed in your rig from the old house to the new house ... and everything worked fine in the old house ... test the duplex (wall outlet) you are drawing power from and make sure it is wired in phase ... just a long shot
Also agree with Racamuti.

Simple test to check for the proper polarity hook-up of your speakers. Disconnect the speaker cables from the Power Amp.
Take a D cell battery and momentarily connect one speaker cable wire to the positive side of the battery and the other wire to the negative side of the battery. The correct polarity will cause the speaker cones to move forward. The wrong polarity will cause the speaker cone to pull inward.
Just a wild guess here. Perhaps you have a piece like some c-j pre's that reverse phase, that require you to reverse the speaker cables, and have forgotten about this requirement and re-setup your system in the more traditional manner.