Speaker polarity

[quicksilverdon]

Does it matter which wire goes on which lug of a speaker? My son is upgrading speakers in his car and I see no markings.....

[turbo1013]

look for + red, or white
- black

yes it maters, you will cancel out your low end bass if hooked up wrong,
other than that not much other problem

[quicksilverdon]

Thanks for quick reply - problem is, wires go into a connector so you can't see which side is which - an audio guy said as long as we do all speakers the same way it'll be okay?

[partyd]

the wire on the right side of the plug facing it to you will be the possitive on any speaker including factory, if you cut the terminal from all the speakers
the one ond the right will be possitive

[chris15]

Don, sorry for the delay-- polarity DEFINITELY matters. If you want to do it right, the BEST way to do this is to take the speaker and use two small sections of speaker wire and a 9v battery. Attach the leads to the speaker, and then make contact to the 9v battery. If the cone moves OUTWARDS, the polarity is set correctly. If it sucks inwards, obviously, the polarity is reversed. Hopefully that helps, or I replied in time.

[Kawizx9r]

Originally Posted by chris15

Don, sorry for the delay-- polarity DEFINITELY matters. If you want to do it right, the BEST way to do this is to take the speaker and use two small sections of speaker wire and a 9v battery. Attach the leads to the speaker, and then make contact to the 9v battery. If the cone moves OUTWARDS, the polarity is set correctly. If it sucks inwards, obviously, the polarity is reversed. Hopefully that helps, or I replied in time.

I'd recommend a 1.5v battery, you'll fry it with a 9v...then again if he's testing the factory speakers that he's replacing I guess it won't matter anyway

The factory speakers should be marked with what looks like a marker or nail polish on the + (mine were when I replaced them today with some Alpines). I tested them anyway just to make sure (you'll see the AA battery near my wire cutters)

[chris15]

It's true that speakers were not designed for DC voltage, so it's advised that you not leave the leads connected to the speakers for a long period of time, but a 9v battery produces nowhere near enough power/current to cause any harm to the speaker. I simply recommended a 9v as it is common. You could use any battery. The purpose is to test the speaker, not to listen to the battery..

[Kawizx9r]

Originally Posted by chris15

It's true that speakers were not designed for DC voltage, so it's advised that you not leave the leads connected to the speakers for a long period of time, but a 9v battery produces nowhere near enough power/current to cause any harm to the speaker. I simply recommended a 9v as it is common. You could use any battery. The purpose is to test the speaker, not to listen to the battery..

+1

Tap the lead on the battery (completing the circuit) and observe which direction the speaker cone moves as Chris suggested.

As for the 9v battery, I only mentioned that cause I have fried a speaker before because I used one instead of pulling one of my AA's out of a remote.

Btw, here's a pic of the stock speakers. Mine were marked, maybe yours are as well (positive terminal).