Speaker wire help, needed!

[jspeicher]

I have speaker wires for low frequency, that go into my aiwa amp. One of the wires is marked with a white line, the other is just black. Which one goes into the positive/negative?

 

[calvinbiss]

the same one that comes out of the negative/postive terminal on your deck, respectively. typically the marked line is the negative, in my experience anyway

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: calvinbiss
the same one that comes out of the negative/postive terminal on your deck, respectively. typically the marked line is the negative, in my experience anyway

:thumbsup: Just make sure you're consistent.

 

[ElFenix]

it doesn't matter, i always just put the black line into the black terminal and the other into the other terminal.


it was a real pain when i got speaker wire that was unstriped. had to look halfway up the line to see the name printed on it.

 

[ScottMac]

Even if the wire is unstriped with paint, one side usually has a roughness or parallel lines moulded into it (look at a brown "lamp cord" sometime).

As mentioned, as long as you maintain polarity, it doesn't matter which side is desgnated plus or minus.

Good Luck, HNY!

Scott

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: ScottMac
Even if the wire is unstriped with paint, one side usually has a roughness or parallel lines moulded into it (look at a brown "lamp cord" sometime).

As mentioned, as long as you maintain polarity, it doesn't matter which side is desgnated plus or minus.

Good Luck, HNY!

Scott

While this is functionally correct, the fact is that some manufacturers do not correctly identify their speakers. JBL actually is inverse polarity , meaning that if you apply a positive voltage to the RED terminal the speaker moves IN, which is not the way it should be moving. Thus if you put JBL's in a cabinet with other brands, there may be polarity issues, which will result in PHASE problems.
I know, I know, I can hear you saying well the box is made by such and such, so if I make them bothe the same it will be ok. True, but if the speakers aren't labeled correctly, then it isn't RIGHT.