Niles Audio MP5, MP6 manual Speaker Phase

Figure 17

Speaker Phase

Speaker wire has two conductors. One conductor is attached to the negative (-) terminals and one conductor is attached to the positive (+) terminals of both your speaker and your amplifier. Usually, the wire is marked for your convenience. There are different ways wires are marked: a stripe on one wire, a ribbed area of one conductor you can only feel, different col- ors of metal wire on each conductor, or there might be a fabric strand or string wound into one of the conductors. Of course, there are some wires which appear completely identical. Be careful, or you might make a mistake.

If you make a mistake, one speaker will be playing “out-of-phase” with the other speaker. An out-of-phase pair of speakers work against each other and the sound of the two speakers playing together will be lacking in bass and be “phasey” sounding. If you suspect the sound is not right and you cannot see any markings on the wire, try this simple test:

1.Stand half way between the two speakers.

2.Play some music with the amplifier or radio set to Mono.

3.Listen to the richness of the bass and the loudness of the sound.

4.Turn off the amplifier and reverse the con- nections on one amplifier channel only.

5.Repeat the listening test with the same setting of the volume control. When the sound has a richer bass and is slightly louder the speakers are working together or “in-phase”.

Installation of the Speaker and Grille in New or Existing Construction

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