Phase switch?

[lovemymovies]

What is the phase switch for on powered subs? I always have mine on 0 I have tried it on 180 and didnt notice any change so what does it do and how does it effect the sound?

 

[Leprkon]

one reason is for when you have two subs. sometimes, room limitations (or other ummm "external" forces) make you put the two subs in a location where the sound waves sort of cancel each other out and cause a weak point at the listening spot. by switching the two subs to different phases, they fire just differently enough to remove the cancellation.

 

[toquemon]

When you use your sub in the same wall of your front speakers you should put it in 0 degrees. When you use it in the same wall of the rear speakers you should put it in 180 degrees.

What do i do?. I focus in the mid-bass frequencies (the kickdrum at the beginning of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean is a good example) and ask my wife to turn the switch 0 or 180, then i leave it when the bass sounds stronger at the listening position.

 

[Tom Vodhanel]

You can think of the phase control as a time delay. You are trying to "time" the output of the subwoofer so that the bass sound waves reach your key listening position(s) at just the right time so that they constructively interact with the sound waves from the rest of your speakers. If the phase is incorrectly set, you'll usually notice a big dip in the frequency response near the crossover point(where the mains are highpassed).

Tom V.
SVS