One of the reasons I am certain that getting polarity “correct” makes a difference in my system is that my non-audiophile wife also hears it. Sometimes when we are listening together she will say she thinks the polarity is wrong, and she is often right.
Absolute Polarity Switch
Whenever I play a new CD (my system is single source CD) I listen with the polarity both ways to determine which is right for that recording. Often, that setting works for all the tracks, but sometimes it is mixed, on compilation albums, for example. Once I have determined the best sounding position for that CD (or individual track), I mark it with a red or blue dot sticker.
My understanding of, and experience with, absolute polarity is that you want to match the polarity of the microphones that originally captured the sound, regardless of how many times the polarity may have been flipped between them and the sound coming out of your speakers. The reason for this is that there has never been a universal standard for wiring mics, so it could be either way. If you don’t have a method for changing the polarity of your system, then the odds of it being right (ie best sounding) for any given recording are about 50/50. In simplistic terms this means that half of your music collection will never sound as good as it could. This correlates very well with my experience, as roughly half my CDs sound better one way, and half the other.
Of course, this assumes that all the original mics were wired the same way. This may not be the case, especially with multi-track recordings. Even with these recordings, though, in most cases, I have found one setting preferable to the other.
A few components (mainly preamps) do have an absolute polarity switch (sometimes improperly labeled as “phase”), but most don’t. Without one, you will need to reverse the speaker leads at your amp, in order to switch polarity. Not exactly an easy or practical method. Implementing a polarity switch is relatively easy, if you have transformers somewhere in the signal path. If not, it gets a lot more complicated. My amplifier (Antique Sound Lab Tulip 2A3 SET) has input transformers, so I had a friend help me add a polarity switch to it years ago. Eventually, I hope to acquire a Music First Audio passive TVC pre with polarity switching, freeing me to upgrade my amp. Some may not hear a difference switching polarity, but a polarity switch is not something I want to live without in my system.
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Tommylion, very interesting. It should not make any difference at all and on my system it does not. I can flip back and forth by remote control from the listening position. That is the entire system by the way, main speakers and subwoofers. If you are using subs and not flipping the polarity on them at the same time then it will make a big difference. If you do not have subs then we are left with two possibilities and one is that there is some issue with your system that makes this switch audible. Others have also noted a change with polarity but you have to take what people hear with a grain of salt. They also hear changes with cable elevators. You have to blind them to get a real result. |
mijostyn ... It should not make any difference at all and on my system it does not. I can flip back and forth by remote control from the listening position ...Many users can detect a change in their system’s polarity. It’s dependent on the recording, but sometimes it’s easy to hear the difference. It sounds like your system is concealing the differences between polarities. Given the nature of your system - digital room correction, extreme LF disturbances that cause uncontrolled woofer flapping and LF disturbances that reach below the fundamentals - it’s not a surprise that you can’t hear polarity in your system. I encourage you to examine your system issues before you finally get a turntable back into it. Especially the opinions of those who have already acknowledged the problems in their system. |
mijostyn, It certainly is controversial topic, and even many hard-core audiophiles who hear differences with all kinds of other things don’t address it. If you can’t hear any difference in your system then that’s cool, saves you some trouble. Since discovering I can hear it in my system, I can’t go back. As far as blind testing, I’ve never understood why it would have any relevance for determining what one hears with ones own ears in their own system. If you are trying to scientifically prove to someone else that you hear what you hear, then maybe, but I feel no need to do so. In posting, I am merely sharing my experience, in the hope that some fellow music/home audio enthusiasts might benefit from it. Others can test it in their own systems, ignore it, or ridicule it. Makes no difference as far as my enjoyment of my system. |
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- 24 posts total