[mgsboedmisodpc2]

Does it make a difference if I connect the plus terminal to the minus terminal just as long as I am consistent with both channels of my Vandersteen Model 3 speakers.  Or is it absolutely necessary that the negative terminal of the speaker is connected to the negative terminal of the amp.  Is there a detriment if I were to connect the positive amp connection to the negative speaker connection and connect the negative amp connection to the positive speaker connection?

[tvyankee]

Hey,

Well you wouldn't blow anything up but you will be out of phase which will leave you with less bass output.  There really is no reason to do this unless you wired it correctly in the first place and said to yourself there really is no bass or didn't sound right to you for some reason and when you flipped the wires you started to hear a lot more bottom end. That could mean that internally the speaker could be wired wrong.

Good Luck.

[C17FXR]

You mean if all four positive connections were connected to the negative side of the amps?
The reason I say four, there are two positive connection per speaker.
Wouldn't this just cause  the positive pulse (wave) to become the negative pulse (wave) on the drivers, then the negative pulse (wave) the positive pulse (wave)?
Is there a way to hear if this is correct as long as all the driver are moving in the same direction?
I know you can see it with a computer or accelerometer but what does it do to the sound?

[dmatt]

mgsboedmisodpc2,

Not a problem if you swap leads for both the right and left channels.  My understanding is that if you swap one channel (+ > -; - > +) and leave the other channel "normal" (+ > +; - > -) you will change the phase of one speaker relative to the other -  one woofer would be moving out while the other would be moving in, the waves would be 180 degrees out of phase and cancel (to an extent) and reduce your output.

I suppose swapping both speaker leads would maintain relative phase (as described above) but change absolute phase -- the goal of having the speaker diaphragm match the movement of the recording microphone -- so you hear it as the mike heard it.  But I think that the original phase can get screwed up with the processing used in studio recordings, so IMHO this is not as big a deal as relative phase.  But it is important enough that some manufacturers have a phase switch that will swap phase (like swapping + and - on both speakers.). My Modwright preamp has that switch.  That allows you to correct on the fly.

- David

[mgsboedmisodpc2]

You mean if all four positive connections were connected to the negative side of the amps?
The reason I say four, there are two positive connection per speaker.
Wouldn't this just cause  the positive pulse (wave) to become the negative pulse (wave) on the drivers, then the negative pulse (wave) the positive pulse (wave)?
Is there a way to hear if this is correct as long as all the driver are moving in the same direction?
I know you can see it with a computer or accelerometer but what does it do to the sound?

C17FXR the assumption was that for the pair of speakers the 4 positive speaker connections would be connected to the negative amp connections and the 4 negative speaker connections would be connected to the positive amp connection such that there would be no bass cancellation.   

[mgsboedmisodpc2]

Hey,

Well you wouldn't blow anything up but you will be out of phase which will leave you with less bass output.  There really is no reason to do this unless you wired it correctly in the first place and said to yourself there really is no bass or didn't sound right to you for some reason and when you flipped the wires you started to hear a lot more bottom end. That could mean that internally the speaker could be wired wrong.

Good Luck.

tvyankee the assumption is that the speakers are wired correctly internally

[mgsboedmisodpc2]

mgsboedmisodpc2,

Not a problem if you swap leads for both the right and left channels.  .....
I suppose swapping both speaker leads would maintain relative phase (as described above) but change absolute phase -- the goal of having the speaker diaphragm match the movement of the recording microphone -- so you hear it as the mike heard it.  ...
- David

So Dave what you are saying is that all that is done is changing the PHASE.  And so with VANDERSTEEN designs changing the PHASE thru speaker wire connection should not change what is heard out into the room.  Can this change in PHASE be heard and identified as being Proper.  And no I am not talking about out of phase bass cancellation.

[tvyankee]

Hello,

Ok, what is this all about? The normal way is to just hook up the positive output of the amp to the positive input terminal of the speaker and the neg output of the amp to the neg input of the speaker. 

Are we trying to do something i am missing?

[mgsboedmisodpc2]

Well tvyankee  speakers cables can be directional?  Can cables have a preference for whether the positive or negative is sent thru it as well effecting the presentation out into the room?

[tvyankee]

Hey,

Sorry but i am not really following your reason but i guess anything is possible. My understanding of directional cables has to do with shielding, if one side is terminated and the other side is not. And i could be completely wrong on that because i have not discuss this in a really long time.I have been wrong many times before and most likely been wrong at least twice today.

[JackD]

Are you talking about you just connected the wrong cable end to both the the amp and speaker, but that they are the same on both ends.  If so then it makes no difference.  The color coding on the cable ends is just for convenience and reference. If you are talking about crossing them then that is only appropriate if the preamp inverts phase. I have owned Vandersteens since 1999, three models, and their internal wiring is correct or somebody like John Atkinson at Stereophile would have noticed. The so called "experts" on some forums who claim to know more than Richard, just like to read their own writing. If you are going to own the speakers then connect them like the designer intended.

[G Georgopoulos]

The signal from the amp is ac,connecting it whatever way i dont see a problem
only those who want absolute phase from source to speaker would disagree...