This has always been a mystery to me, although I have wired hundreds, if not thousands, of speakers.

On most speaker equipment, there is always a + and a - wire; how does one determine which wire hanging out of the speaker is which ??

I am currently wiring some P.A.-speakers (that work with the "PA" on a C.B. radio); it seems to have no bearing on sound or function whichever way I connect the wires, nor did it ever with the numerous stereo-speakers that I have wired, although the cord from the C.B. definitely has a + and -.

Some of these P.A.-speakers have one wire that has a white stripe, others simply have two identicle wires.
(Like a lot of my stuff, these came second-hand from "swap meets")


How does one determine polarity and does it matter at all ??


Thanks.

 

the reason you need to observe polarity has to do with the sound not the electronics and it is mandatory for good sound reproduction, with out getting to wordy the easiest way to find the polarity of a unknown is to connect a 1.5 volt flash light battery to the speaker Leeds with one hand on the cone one way will push the cone out turn the battery around and it will suck it in. mark them any way you want just keep the same on all. i usually mark the wire + that pushes out the cone, easer for me to remember. to get the best reproduction out of a given set of speakers you need to keep the polarity straight from the amp to the cone. also each speaker must be equal distance from the listener. most speakers do not have very good dispersal patterns, the best thing to do is to point the speaker at the listener. for mono or pa it is totally irrelevant how it is connected

 

That is explained good enough that even a numb-skull like me can understand it.


Thanks.