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Speaker popularity

Speaker *Polarity* (sorry autocorrect)
                      >:( 

This is sort of a poll question for anyone to chime in. In general, I believe people on this forum have a good ear for finer details.

Can you tell the difference if the polarity of *both* speakers are reversed?

I remember a thread from way back where someone shared an experience of a vendor at an audio convention that deliberately reversed the speaker input connection?

...Yes, no, depends(please clarify).

If yes, how would you describe the difference.
Thanks in advance:-)

recluse
oldhvymec
5,101 posts
 
It's all good, I know about a few of the recording tricks too. Hope we don't have to start listening to records backwards again, "Paul is Dead" LOL

It's something I prefer, wiring in phase. I use planars/ribbons 300 hz >
Round speakers 300 hz <, in a 4 way... and/with subs.  

My older Macs have, L,R, reverse, ect.

I've seen a lot of speakers wired out of phase when I was looking, I quit about 25 years ago. I knew something sounded weak, bad, or both. Normally mids were washed out by doing that.. Same time of super hot tweeter. Actually need tone control in cables to fix it.  Yea, old school here.  BUT I do use a processor for 300 hz <.. Easy peasy for phase correction, timing, delay, and thresholds, if needed.  Servo bass same way, in phase, but it has a processor, and a step baffle, no phase issues.

Regards
kenjit
1,771 posts
 
Some audiophiles are known to enjoy the sound when you reverse the phase on just one speaker as it creates a beautifully wide stereo imaging effect. I've been to a few demos where this was done to me. 
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,537 posts
 

Some phono amps and the phono stage of some pre-amps invert the polarity of the signal from the pickup they are fed, others don’t. Some recordings contain music whose absolute polarity has been reversed in the recording process, others don’t. Some recordings contain music recorded such that one or more channels in a multi-track recording are in polarity opposite that of the other channels in the multi-track recording. It’s a real mess.

Also a mess are many loudspeakers, even very expensive ones. The three drivers in many 3-way speakers are wired in polarity opposite one or more of the other others(s). The Quad ESL inverts the signal, but the speaker as a whole is in polarity with itself. Since the polarity of some amplifying stages and many recordings is so random, what difference does it make? Sheffield direct-to-disc LP's are known to be in varying states of polarity.

The Dynaco Quadaptor of the 1970’s created a rear-channel signal that were merely a left-minus-right inversion of the front channels (the opposite of a left-plus-right mono signal), to reproduce the out-of-phase content found in some stereo recordings, particularly live recordings made in large venues.

testpilot
899 posts
 
I remember a thread from way back where someone shared an experience of a vendor at an audio convention that deliberately reversed the speaker input connection?

More than likely one of the components in the amplification chain inverted phase, therefore, the vendor was merely attempting to re-establish correct phase.    As previously noted, there is not a recording standard for phase, therefore, source material is all over the map with respect to phase.  You have a 50/50 chance of getting it correct. 


recluse OP
268 posts
 
Is there a difference between phase and polarity?

I wonder how prevelant source material , recordings and players, have this, today or in the " old days" ?

For those who have a switch, is the A-B difference then obvious and which do you all prefer. I'm wondering  if this will be a 50-50 response.  What are the characteristics of the sound when emitted sound has reversed polarity: loss of detail, loss of note leading edge, speaker driver wear, due to the cone flexing inward at the start?

Thanks for everyone's input.
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