Iceman Posted March 18, 2003 Share Posted March 18, 2003 I have a pair of subs in my car and I think I wired them incorrectly. I might have wired the positive end to the negative terminal and vice versa. They are fuctioning, but they sound quiet and lack high end output. Is it possible for them to operate when wired improperly? The wires are clear so I can't tell which is which. Thank you for your time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markw Posted March 19, 2003 Share Posted March 19, 2003 Michael, They would work, but they would lack punch. What happens is when the wires a reversed, the current causes the speaker to pull in when it should be pushing out, and vice versa. So when the sub should punch, it actually pushes the air into the box, giving you a muffled sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceman Posted March 22, 2003 Author Share Posted March 22, 2003 That makes perfect sense. Thank you very much for your reply Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted March 23, 2003 Share Posted March 23, 2003 What you are experiencing is phase cancellation. Low frequencies are omnidirectional and have very long wavelengths. When two or more woofers or subwoofers are reproducing the same signal, if they are out of phase ( polarity ) they will cancel each other out resulting in weak bass response. Reverse one pair of wires and give it a try. You should now be rewarded with deep, full bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klewless Posted March 24, 2003 Share Posted March 24, 2003 Iceman, You can use a little battery to momentarily see which way the woofers move. If they both move the same direction (in or out) then they are in phase. A little touch from the battery and they will jump one way or the other. Do this at the crossover or at the wires leading to the woofers from the crossover. Obviously the amp should be OFF OFF and OFF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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