Bad stereo sound

[bankswood]

I recently replaced all 4 door speakers and the 8" sub. My sound is not good. sort of tin - y if that makes sense. I have an after market head unit. All components are middle of the road and I'm certainly not an audiophile but something is wrong. If I connected the wires to the speakers wrong could that cause the problem?

 

[groundscr8pr]

make sure all your door speakers are in phase(all +and - are correct) if on speaker is backward it will sound poopie!!!

 

[bankswood]

I'm thinking that's what's wrong. I know those wires are strange colors and also the back door wires are not the same color as the front.

 

[abladeafficionado]

Having the polarity flipped (the + and -) isn't that big of a deal. You probably wouldn't notice honestly. It'll simply alter the speaker from moving (in out in out) to (out in out in).

Sometimes you have to flip polarity to speakers to stop cancellation and such. Subs you'll really notice when they're out of phase, and tweeter can be sensitive to polarity also.

 

[groundscr8pr]

Having the polarity flipped (the + and -) isn't that big of a deal. You probably wouldn't notice honestly. It'll simply alter the speaker from moving (in out in out) to (out in out in).

Sometimes you have to flip polarity to speakers to stop cancellation and such. Subs you'll really notice when they're out of phase, and tweeter can be sensitive to polarity also.

you obviously have no idea what you are talking about!!! educate yourself how a speaker works and creates sound before you give that advice again!!

 

[UBILLN]

you obviously have no idea what you are talking about!!! educate yourself how a speaker works and creates sound before you give that advice again!!

No to some extent he is correct... a speaker is nothing but a coil of wire stuck to the bottom of a cone that goes around a magnet with just the right gap so when the magnet is energized, it moves in a direction. Speaker output is actually like a/c or alternating current because it pushes and pulls the magnet or rather flips polarity. So if you hook your speaker wires up backwards it will simply be out of phase with what is designed to be the "front" of the speaker. It wont hurt it, but wont sound great and definitely in dealing with subs could make a difference but really do to box design not due to the sub since most subs can be installed backwards with the magnet out.

 

[groundscr8pr]

No to some extent he is correct... a speaker is nothing but a coil of wire stuck to the bottom of a cone that goes around a magnet with just the right gap so when the magnet is energized, it moves in a direction. Speaker output is actually like a/c or alternating current because it pushes and pulls the magnet or rather flips polarity. So if you hook your speaker wires up backwards it will simply be out of phase with what is designed to be the "front" of the speaker. It wont hurt it, but wont sound great and definitely in dealing with subs could make a difference but really do to box design not due to the sub since most subs can be installed backwards with the magnet out.

thank you for the lesson!! nobody ever said anything about damaging the speaker.. only sounding bad. witch you admit being out of phase will do!!!

 

[UBILLN]

well whatever but telling abladeafficionado that he has no idea what he is talking about is wrong because he does have it right when talking about the changes in phase and that it wont damage the speaker being hooked up backwards, it just wont sound as good.

 

[abladeafficionado]

thank you for the lesson!! nobody ever said anything about damaging the speaker.. only sounding bad. witch you admit being out of phase will do!!!

You're wrong. It won't sound bad. I bet you wouldn't even notice. They have special meters designed to detect phase so that you can correct phase issues. You may have to flip the phase your right front mid bass to even out imaging issues for mid bass, right now my right front woofer is out of phase and is obviously apparent. The test CDs confirm problems like this, and flipping phase will help the center the soundstage.

In my Blazer, flipping the phase on the sub to "backwards" made the sub cleaner, and more accurate. That's why high end head units let you flip polarity on each individual channel. Sometimes speakers, being placed at different distances from your ear, can be out of phase, even though they're all hooked up "the same".

I'd advise you learn what you're talking about before you comment. Changing phase on one speaker can be used to alter the imaging of a system, and often for the better. Many of the audio elite use this tool, in home audio especially.

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...dumb/104232-wiring-one-speaker-out-phase.html

---------- Post added at 12:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:29 AM ----------

you obviously have no idea what you are talking about!!! educate yourself how a speaker works and creates sound before you give that advice again!!

Lol. You truly are completely oblivious to car audio. Make that statement on a car audio forum and they'd disagree tooth and nail.

I'm trying to share some more advanced car audio knowledge I have, just because it's over your head, doesn't mean I'm wrong.

 

[groundscr8pr]

You're wrong. It won't sound bad. I bet you wouldn't even notice. They have special meters designed to detect phase so that you can correct phase issues. You may have to flip the phase your right front mid bass to even out imaging issues for mid bass, right now my right front woofer is out of phase and is obviously apparent. The test CDs confirm problems like this, and flipping phase will help the center the soundstage.

In my Blazer, flipping the phase on the sub to "backwards" made the sub cleaner, and more accurate. That's why high end head units let you flip polarity on each individual channel. Sometimes speakers, being placed at different distances from your ear, can be out of phase, even though they're all hooked up "the same".

I'd advise you learn what you're talking about before you comment. Changing phase on one speaker can be used to alter the imaging of a system, and often for the better. Many of the audio elite use this tool, in home audio especially.

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...dumb/104232-wiring-one-speaker-out-phase.html

---------- Post added at 12:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:29 AM ----------



Lol. You truly are completely oblivious to car audio. Make that statement on a car audio forum and they'd disagree tooth and nail.

I'm trying to share some more advanced car audio knowledge I have, just because it's over your head, doesn't mean I'm wrong.

listen... i am not going to get into an internet pissing match with you over theory of sound. i have been an installer/sound off competitor for 18 yrs. i can assure you phasing makes a huge difference in sound. i encourage you to do some testing for yourself and report back!!!

---------- Post added at 09:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:35 AM ----------

and just to clear this up a little more. you guys keep mentioning speaker damage. the op asked about bad sound not damaged speakers. phase will not damage speakers. i agree the to tune a high end system we often change phasing for imaging purpose. but i believe that is a little over the ops head. i have built and helped tune cars that went to iassca finals and placed. eqing and phase tuning are a must!! but for an everyday system starting with all speakers in phase as a baseline is very important!!