[ndskurfer]

Can someone explain to me what this toggle switch is used for?  I'm new to high end audio and am looking at the VDA-2.  What does Phase mean, and what does the 0 to 180 degrees represent.  I pulled the info sheet on this DAC from ciaudio.com, which did explain how to hook it up and change it to "inverted", but I don't know what this means. 

I did some random "google" searches and found some info on the phase dial on Subs, but I was unclear what that represented as well. 

Any explanation would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[CSI]

The switch changes absolute phase. When your speakers receive a positive pulse they move outward. Both speakers must be in relative phase (l & r the same) so that one isn't moving in when the other moving out or there will be some cancellation of bass frequencies and other bad things. You check this when you set up your system, making sure those + and - connections are all done right. But even when they are in relative phase (moving together) program material may be in negative phase - meaning that when both speakers are supposed to get a positive signal they are actually 180 degrees out of phase so that the cones are moving out when they should be moving in and vice versa. Absolute phase can be switched anywhere in the chain. Some preamps invert phase, some don't. Some recordings are flipped in phase. No way to tell without listening. Confusing? Yes, but that isn't the bad part. Some people claim they can always hear absolute phase under blind testing conditions and others say they can't hear it at all. Can you hear it? Does it matter? The switch will allow you to make comparisons so you can decide for yourself. It is either a neat tool for fine tuning your system or something else to make you crazy, depending on how you take it.