factory sub wire polarity

[nc89sho]

i'm installing an aftermarket sub into my 93's factory box, .. anyone know witch color wire is positive and wich one is negative? one is black with green dots, one is black with white dots...

 

[SHOZ123]

Doesn't make any difference on a single coil, mono speaker sub system.

 

[kd7kmp]

The positive wire has the white dots.

Kevin

 

[93medusa]

hint

Actually, polarity does have an effect on any speaker. If you wire it up backwards, it will be 180 degrees out of phase. In some instances this might sound better!

A hint, if you ever have to figure out polarity. Disconnect the speaker, and hook a nine volt battery to the speaker. If the speaker pushes out, you have the positive terminal of the battery on the positive of the speaker. If it pulls in, you have the positive of the battery on the negative of the speaker. Just don't leave the battery hooked up to the speaker, just touch it long enough to see which way the cone moves.

Dave

 

[kd7kmp]

Dave is exactly right. I took out my stock sub earlier today and used the 9 volt battery test to determine polarity. I replaced the stock sub with an 8" sub in a .35ft^3 sealed enclosure. It is much better sounding than the stock unit. I am using the stock amp, by the way.

Kevin

 

[SHOZ123]

If it is a mono sub and running through a crossover what can it be out of phase with???????

 

[93medusa]

If you wire the sub backwards it will be running out of phase with the rest of the speakers in the car. Think of it this way, when it gets a signal to push the speaker out, it is going to be pulling it in instead, that will cause the sound to be 180 degrees out of phase with the rest of the speakers hooked up to the system. As I stated before, that might not be a bad thing. often speakers sound better out of phase in a car environment because there are so many variables involved with a car interior that effect phase and acoustics.

 

[kd7kmp]

I believe you are confusing polarity with stereo bass. In most music the bass is mono, not stereo. Sub amps simply sum the bass from the music to one channel. This has no effect on stereo imaging. However, polarity is completely different. If all the drivers are wired in phase then the cones will all push out an in at the same time. If one driver is out of phase its cone will push out when all the others pull in. Depending on the situation and speaker placement this can **** the bass and sound quality. In a car and in large home theaters it is sometimes desirable to have the sub out of phase. This helps combat the problem of having the listener so far from the speaker. Hope this made sense.

Kevin