SH Spotlight SH Forum members: Are your speakers in correct phase?

That's how I did it, FL & FR, then C, then SL & SR, finally the sub.

I would think that mixing for 5.1 has it's own peculiar set of issues regarding phasing.

 

Thanks, Geoff ... I'll give that a try ...

 

I have my speakers bi-wired and I think all is OK Red to Red, Black to Black. I assume the same rules apply with this set-up? The mono recording test worked fine.

 

Now all you have to make sure is that you are out of the blue and into the black

 

So ... if I cross the polarity between the amp and a tape deck ... I can turn my mono Beatles and Beach Boys LPs into duophonic "masterpieces"? ...

 

I've wondered about that. Just as we once had store shelves lined with fake stereo generated from mono sources (and sold for that dreaded one dollar more..), are there any commercially available 5.1 mixes that are really just stereo images encoded to 5.1? Assuming history repeats, are they sold for more than the standard stereo CD? I would think it would be comprised of left channel encoded to FL & SL, right channel encoded to FR & SR, and a fold-down mono encoded to C and LFE.

 

Hey I watched the original "Goodfellas" DVD yesterday just to check out my picture setup and it was 5.1 played back on 2 channel...don't know if it was folded down but boy it was weird...music + narration, but little or no actual sound/dialogue from the film!

Haven't gotten around to connecting the 5.1 yet.

 

I'm confused: I have a turntable and CD going into a preamp that IS phase inverting. This goes into a solid-state amp (which I assume after reading these articles is not phase inverting.) The manufactorer of my preamp states "If your system has an odd number of inversions, then you must add one phase inversion."

So, could my sources (phono and CD) be phase inverting? Or, my AC line perhaps? I'm not sure if I should "count" these in order to figure out if I have an odd number of inversions. Or, should I just figure the phase inverting preamp into the equation, and reverse the polarity by way of my speaker cables?

 

...been in Phase since 69!...I color code my hook-ups!

 

I just visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland this past weekend...a very cool place. Except for a speaker setup blasting out DC5 hits OUT OF PHASE! Very annoying. I didn't say anything to any of the staff there but I think I will e-mail the Hall.

 

Steve, can phase also be inverted at the point of cartridge/tonearm cable connection? If so, seems like that would be important to this discussion too, for those of us that still play LPs.

Thanks.

John.

 

Yes, please do. I'd heard about absolute phase but this is a first for me.

I'll try the 'absolute phase' thing- but I pray to God I don't notice anything, as I have enough variables to go nuts over already .

 

All good here! Thanks!

 

Until he replies, try a search at AA, in Cable and/or Speaker Asylum under 'directional speaker' or similar. You will find differing points of view........

http://www.audioasylum.com/index.html

 

Steve thanks for the heads up. Happy to report that I'm in phase (but out of style). I used the Thank You Girl test and let the cd run to She Loves You and had to wince when that master snafu shows up between 1:23 and 1:29. I'd forgot all about that. Damn is that ugly! And sloppy.

 

Indeed you will.

 

In phase here, Captain! And for getting the 5.1 rig in phase, actually 5.0 in my case, I find the Chesky Ultimate DVD Surround Sampler / 5.1 Set-Up Disc invaluable.

 

Yes.

JEFF!

 

Everything's in phase here too.

 

I, too, am in phase!

 

Good to go on my rig, boss. Even though it seems easy to do, things like this can get mixed up rather easily.

Just within the past month, I was moving components around in my rack and getting a new CD player. For two days I had my surround speakers playing the "reversed" channels because my SR & SL pre-amp out jacks were reversed. I even goofed up my CD player outputs for a couple of hours until I noticed things where coming from the wrong side!!

I got a CD from TDK back in '95 that gave a test track for out-of-phase. It had a man's voice repeated a phrase so you would know if you were rigged up correctly or not. Invaluable stuff!

 

I'm in phase, but the direction of the letters on my right speaker cable was backwards. All is well now...

 

Everything's in phase. It's good to do this check after cleaning terminals, etc. Also, make sure all switches are in proper position. I spent a week trying to figure out why my left channel had a weaker signal than my right. I finally checked the mono bridge switch on my McIntosh amp and noticed it was partially in the middle. I must have accidentally bumped it when cleaning. All systems go....