Testing Speaker's Phase

clsgman
clsgman Posts: 18
edited December 2002 in Troubleshooting
To reduce the appearance of wiring (and To appease the wife), I spliced existing speaker wire onto new monster cable. Unfortunately, the existing cable in the wall has no stripe or other means to distinguish the + or - ends.

Other than using one's ears, is there a surer method to tell whether my surround speakers are in or out of phase?
Post edited by clsgman on
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  • RuSsMaN
    RuSsMaN Posts: 17,987
    edited December 2002
    1.2 volt AA battery. Do a *rough* splice, and disconnect the amp end. Touch what you think is pos to pos, neg to neg, if the woofer on the speaker moves OUTWARD, you have correct phase, if it moves INWARD, you are wired out of phase.

    Hope that makes sense.

    Cheers,
    Russ
    Check your lips at the door woman. Shake your hips like battleships. Yeah, all the white girls trip when I sing at Sunday service.
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  • MxStYlEpOlKmAn
    MxStYlEpOlKmAn Posts: 2,116
    edited December 2002
    Even HD wire has a way of telling - from +! ;)
    Damn you all, damn you all to hell.......
    I promised myself
    No more speakers. None. Nada. And then you posted this!!!!
    Damn you all! - ATC
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  • gidrah
    gidrah Posts: 3,049
    edited December 2002
    Great test RuSsMaN! I was thinking the mono vs. stereo test, but you had the better answer anyways.
    Make it Funky! :)
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  • clsgman
    clsgman Posts: 18
    edited December 2002
    Thanks RuSsMaN! Just one problem. I've got RM6000 satellites with non removable covers. Any other ideas? Otherwise I' just have run new cable to be sure
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  • gidrah
    gidrah Posts: 3,049
    edited December 2002
    Placing a single sheet of newspaper or gift wrap paper over the woofer section and observing this should give similar results.
    Make it Funky! :)
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  • burdette
    burdette Posts: 1,194
    edited December 2002
    Just test the electrical continuity of the wire, unless you're concerned one of your components has its phase reversed somehow.

    Mark one end of one wire either near the amp or speaker... go to the other end of the run and electrically check to see which wire is the other end of the one you marked. If you have a V/A/O meter, test for open or closed circuit using the ohmeter. Otherwise, use anything you have.. battery and flashlight bulb, etc, to test which end is the correct one. Mark them permanently.
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  • TroyD
    TroyD Posts: 13,077
    edited December 2002
    any reason you couldn't run down to Home Depot and pick up some new wire thereby eliminating the need to splice?

    IMO, that would be your best option.

    BDT
    I plan for the future. - F1Nut
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  • TonyPTX
    TonyPTX Posts: 545
    edited December 2002
    I just picked up the Sound & Vision Home Theater Tune-Up DVD at BestBuy over the weekend (check out the special interest section) for about $18. The DVD contains all sorts of audio tests, and one specifically was the phase test. The test works out really well and it's easy to determine if your speakers are out of phase that way.
    Damn....8 lines...I've gotta put my sig on a diet now....
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