How do you check phase?

R

Rootpusher

Member
How can you be sure that each driver is wired properly in phase with the others in the cabinet?

I know you can make sure that the ground wire is on the negative terminal and the hot on the positive, but that visual check presupposes that the wires are correctly wired into the crossover and that the drivers themselves are properly marked with plus and minus signs...

I guess my question is: Is there some way to use a multimeter at each driver to ensure that it's phase correct?

FWIW, I have Forte IIs and Heresy IIs...they sound fine, BTW; this is sort of a theoretical Q. When Klipsch speakers pop up on Classic Audio's for sale site, they always claim that each one has been checked to ensure proper phase...
 
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In a multiway system drivers aren't necessarily all in phase. Driver depth and delay, crossover order and crossover frequency add enough variables that the mid and the tweeter may or may not be in phase with the woofer (multiple woofers are always in phase with each other). So, generally the woofer matches the input marking: positive volts to the red terminal cause the woofer cone to move out and creat positive pressure, all the other drivers will be as set by the designer.

If your question is how to confirm if the driver polarities are as originally designed then the Gold Line tester will show their current polarity and you might compare that to a circuit diagram or maybe to a known good speaker. You can also compare a known good speaker to another by setting them side by side and applying pink noise or FM interstation noise to both but with one speaker reverse connected. Stand in front of them at 3 to 5 ft distance and the sound should be well canceled for all frequencies (flip the polarity of one speaker to confirm).

David
 
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