Probably a REALLY rookie question... (speaker terminals)

[dbdraggin]

Hello all,

Until recently, everything I knew/know about audio has been in the car audio realm... it wasn't until a few months ago that I decided to go beyond the theather-in-a-box applications for our home that I even considered taking stuff apart to modify it or building my own speakers from kits.

Until I settle on, and have time to dedicate to building, a kit or design for sure (currently leaning towards the MTM Overnight Sensations), I decided to go with something inexpensive to mess around with. I've read nice things about the B652-Airs from PE, so I bought a couple of pairs. Most places I read, everyone has success with reversing the polarity on the tweeter and I've decided to do the same. One of the more recent purchaser-reviews on the B652-Airs suggested that buyer started to do the same thing, and that they discovered they were already wired with the polarity flip flopped. Which leads to my question:

The terminals on the tweeter are not marked as positive or negative, but one is wider than the other. The terminals on the 6 inch driver ARE marked, and the one that is wider than the other is the positive. Is this standard among non-car audio applications (which were always the same size, and marked in the 14+ years I was involved in that industry)? Is the wider terminal ALWAYS the positive?

Normally I'd just use a 9 volt to pop test a speaker that isn't marked to check which way the cone moves, but obviously I can't do that on a tweeter.


I'm sure I'll have a few more rookie questions in the near future, thanks for bearing with me.

Russ

 

[JDub]

I asked this question a while back about a different pair of speakers and was told the wider terminal is positive. I think I was told that's standard, but I could be wrong. Anyway, it shouldn't be too hard to try both ways and see which you like better. Are the wires color coded?

 

[Binkman]

Hey welcome to AK.. your car audio experience will be welcome I'm sure.

There is no assured +/-? Only real test is try both.. some times a cross over affects the polarity on a tweet. The more pronounced or presence of the tweeter is it. I don't know that particular tweeter but soft domes are more subtle and titanium are more robust. Dayton has a selection of nice poly caps uf' ranges for tuning in speakers. I like electrolytic caps on the woofers and mids with poly's on the tweets as many do. e.g. I've found 2uf down to say 6uf for soft dome and perhaps down to 8- for the titaniums. I run acoustic suspension but ported may have affects, too.

in short just experiment till you like the sound.
bink

 

[dbdraggin]

I asked this question a while back about a different pair of speakers and was told the wider terminal is positive. I think I was told that's standard, but I could be wrong. Anyway, it shouldn't be too hard to try both ways and see which you like better. Are the wires color coded?

Yes, they are. The part that led me to post this question is that someone left a review on the speakers saying that theirs came with the polarity on the tweeters already switched. But without the tweeter terminals having a + or - designation on them, I have no way of know if that is the case for mine... or if the reviewer even knew what they were talking about.

Hey welcome to AK.. your car audio experience will be welcome I'm sure.

There is no assured +/-? Only real test is try both.. some times a cross over affects the polarity on a tweet. The more pronounced or presence of the tweeter is it. I don't know that particular tweeter but soft domes are more subtle and titanium are more robust. Dayton has a selection of nice poly caps uf' ranges for tuning in speakers. I like electrolytic caps on the woofers and mids with poly's on the tweets as many do. e.g. I've found 2uf down to say 6uf for soft dome and perhaps down to 8- for the titaniums. I run acoustic suspension but ported may have affects, too.

in short just experiment till you like the sound.
bink

Thank you for the welcome! Tho most of what you said is Chinese to me right now, I plan on becoming a better student of the hobby soon. I originally chose these speakers because they were an inexpensive starting point to experiment with until I can make up my mind on what my long term setup will be. I just found it to be a confusing starting point that the most common modification many make to them is not the most simple one without some blind trust. I plan on adding more polyfil, an inexpensive pre-made two way crossover, and bracing the enclosure as well with dowels.

I hope to buy some equipment in the near-ish future so I can chart the frequency response with each modification made on a new pair of b652-airs along the way. Mostly just for fun, but also to help out any rookies like me who might be interested in doing more than just buying a pair of speakers and hooking them up.

in short just experiment till you like the sound.

The best advise I've gotten yet everywhere that I've posted about this subject. Thank you.

 

[Binkman]

Thanks back to you... just make sure you don't short the speaker terminals on the amp. even through wiring a test speaker? Use Dmm to assure speaker +/- are not shorted before hooking up to amp. and turn amp off when connecting. Be surprised at how many amps show up here with shorted output transistors because of users not taking proper precautions and testing with a live amp. I'm sure you're aware it only takes one thin strand of wire to make a short.

Yeah have fun...