Speaker polarity + or -

[agular]

The positive and negative wires inside my speaker box that connect to the speaker drivers are not identified + or – on my speakers. Is there any way to test to find out which wire is positive and which wire would be negative? I am replacing the old original drivers with new ones. I had removed the old drivers and forgot to check which wire went to where.

 

[corey]

Maybe with an ohm meter, but I've never tried it.

 

[xboxweasel]

I've seen someone use a 1.5V C cell battery to test speaker polarity. By connecting the wires to the battery the speaker will either move in our out (very quickly mind you). Do this to both and compare their direction. Then you know which way to connect the new speaker compared to the old. Make sense?

It's easier to see on bigger diameter speakers than on small ones.

Personally I've never tried it. But it seemed to work for him.

If you are unsure of this then try the following:
Once you have everything connected use the THX setup section found on most THX rated movies. Play back the section that tests for speaker polarity. It's very obvious when they are in / out of phase. If they are connected out of phase you just have to switch the wires. (I am guessing that the Avia and DVE DVDs also have similar test sounds).

 

[Lee Batchelor]

Hi Agular

I agree with the 1.5 volt battery test. I've done it and found the best way is to connect the negative terminal of the battery to one terminal of the driver. Connect another jumper wire from the other speaker terminal and "tickle" the positive of the battery. If the cone excursion is outward then the positive of the battery is hooked up with the positve of the driver. If the cone tends to pull back towards the voice coil then reverse the polarity to observe an outward cone movement. Mark the positive side. (I can't believe how some manufacturers don't identify the leads!)......Lee

 

[xboxweasel]

WooHoo. Score one for The Weasel.

 

[agular]

The wires are coming from my crossover to the speaker. I looked at the wires again, one wire is color-coded blue, and the other has no color. Is it possible the wire with the blue stripe is the negative wire?

 

[mulester7]

The wires are coming from my crossover to the speaker. I looked at the wires again, one wire is color-coded blue, and the other has no color. Is it possible the wire with the blue stripe is the negative wire?

.....Agular, a question....are there not "any" plus or minus markings anywhere on the crossover, input or outputs?....and another question....how many speaker elements are in your enclosure that run off the crossover?.....

 

[mtrycrafts]

Maybe with an ohm meter, but I've never tried it.

That would not work.

 

[mtrycrafts]

The wires are coming from my crossover to the speaker. I looked at the wires again, one wire is color-coded blue, and the other has no color. Is it possible the wire with the blue stripe is the negative wire?

It doesn't really matter if you are consistent in placing the blue on the same side on both speakers.

 

[sivadselim]

It doesn't really matter if you are consistent in placing the blue on the same side on both speakers.

That would assure that they are in phase with one another, however they could both still end up wired inversely (50/50 chance) relative to the way the rear binding posts are labelled and out of phase with the other speakers in a multichannel system. This, of course, would be easily discernible with the phase verification portion of a calibration disc like AVIA.

 

[MacManNM]

That would not work.

Yes it will. all you need to know is one of the wires, so you can use the ohm meter to find the neg line.

 

[MacManNM]

It doesn't really matter if you are consistent in placing the blue on the same side on both speakers.

That is probably not true. It totally depends on what kind of speaker system we are talking about. Is it a 3 way? If it is chances are the midrange is supposed to be wired backwards. A lot depends on the crossover. See if you can get a schematic for the crossover. If not, post a few pics.

 

[Jack Hammer]

The positive and negative wires inside my speaker box that connect to the speaker drivers are not identified + or – on my speakers. Is there any way to test to find out which wire is positive and which wire would be negative? I am replacing the old original drivers with new ones. I had removed the old drivers and forgot to check which wire went to where.

Have you tried calling or emailing the manufacturer? I'm fairly sure they would know.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Yes it will. all you need to know is one of the wires, so you can use the ohm meter to find the neg line.

A negative line with an ohm meter? where is that line grounded in the speaker?

 

[MacManNM]

A negative line with an ohm meter? where is that line grounded in the speaker?

The black terminal input on the back of the speaker (usualy -) will go straight to one of the terminals of the driver, and not through the crosoover. If you ring it out, you will get something like 0.001 ohms.