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I have this 10" Yamaha JA2515 speaker, which is what goes in the Yamaha G100-210 amp, that I'd like to mount in a cabinet. Unfortunately, the speaker is not marked for polarity, nor are the speakers actually mounted in the amp marked for polarity. Does anyone have one of these who can tell me which connector is positive and which is negative?
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01-14-2019 07:04 PM
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Do you have a multimeter? Handy thing if you don't already.
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Yes I have a multimeter
Originally Posted by Woody Sound
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If you're only mounting one speaker in the cabinet, it doesn't matter. Polarity only matters if you're connecting multiple speakers to each other or to different channels of a multi-channel amp. Originally Posted by lawson-stone
I have this 10" Yamaha JA2515 speaker, which is what goes in the Yamaha G100-210 amp, that I'd like to mount in a cabinet. Unfortunately, the speaker is not marked for polarity, nor are the speakers actually mounted in the amp marked for polarity. Does anyone have one of these who can tell me which connector is positive and which is negative?
John
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Use a 1.5V battery.
Protrude is the + terminal.
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See this, note the polarity section and mark the +terminal with something like red nail polish :
Quickly Testing Speaker Wires and Speaker Connections
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The 1.5 volt battery method is good if you can see the cone motion. Some use 9 volts, but only connect it briefly or you risk damaging the coil.
After connecting any two speakers, I try to double check that they are in phase by ear by positioning my head between the speakers much as if they were headphones. If two speakers are connected to the same source in phase, the sound will appear to come from the midpoint between them. If they are out of phase, you’ll instead hear it as two distinct sounds coming from each speaker, and the bass will drop out. The difference is very obvious if one can quickly change the phase of one speaker (e.g., with a switch), but after a few times it becomes obvious. In the days when most speakers were zip cords I’d sometimes walk into a room and immediately notice the speakers were out of phase.
Here’s an example of the difference. Play it through stereo speakers.
https://www.richardfarrar.com/audio/out-of-phase.mp3
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As was mentioned, with a single speaker it isn't too important which way you connect.
However, if you are going to be playing with other amplified instruments it's good to connect forward firing. Make the positive terminal the one that pushes the cone outward when it is connected to the positive battery terminal. Then, all amps will be in phase, except old Fender tweed Bassman amps. They were rearward phased.
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I've always done it by listening for bass, switching the wires and listening again.
The one that produces more bass is the one where the speakers are in phase.
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Unless the other instruments are magically in phase with you, this doesn't matter either. Originally Posted by Greentone
Danny W.
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True. Phase is a relative thing and meaningless if you don’t have another signal for reference. The speaker polarity marking is provided to help ensure multiple speakers will be in phase, but if you will never have more than one speaker connected it can be ignored. Originally Posted by Danny W.
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Phase is inverted through each gain stage, the number of which varies across different amps, the gain stages of any pedals, and if you mic your amp the additional gain stages in the PA console/amp, powered stage monitors, etc.
With one speaker in the amp, don't worry about it...
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Good to know. I used to think that if you wired it up backwards all the sound would be sucked out of the room. Originally Posted by KirkP
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Just a curiosity point for me: the speakers of my Yamaha G100 210 are wired very conspicuously with black or white insulated wires; the blacks always go to the same poles on the speakers, the whites always to the others. Is there a convention for using a color for positive or negative?
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This is a great thread.
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The convention is that black is ground, the other color is positive. Unless it's for electric power, in which case green is ground, black is hot, and white is neutral. Some speaker cable has clear insulation, with a white or other color stripe on one side, which is usually used for positive.
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thanks everyone. This has been a good education for me!
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Even speaker wires that look undifferentiated (no color stripe) typically have a little ridge on the side of the insulation of one wire that you can feel.
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Speakers are low impedance AC devices. Only 1 speaker polarity is not an issue. Two or more then it is an issue.
Just be sure to use as heavy a wire as practical. Minimum of 14 gauge.
Solder connections are more secure and less prone to corrosion than crimp on.
Gold plating is only for corrosion resistance and has no effect on sound.
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I’m sure you know this, but I’ll mention for benefit of others that the gauge requirement is a function of wire length and load impedance. So for an 8 ohm speaker you want the total resistance in the speaker wire to be much less than 8 ohms. Since wire resistance is proportional to length, relatively small gauges can be used for short distances, such as in a combo amp. Originally Posted by BBGuitar
If the wire is quite long (e.g. home stereo or PA system) speaker wire gauges become very important. That’s one advantage of powered speakers, since the power amp is always close to the speaker. I’ve strayed a bit off topic, but thought some might be interested.
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How did it turn out? Was "+" on the right? Originally Posted by lawson-stone
I have this 10" Yamaha JA2515 speaker, which is what goes in the Yamaha G100-210 amp, that I'd like to mount in a cabinet. Unfortunately, the speaker is not marked for polarity, nor are the speakers actually mounted in the amp marked for polarity. Does anyone have one of these who can tell me which connector is positive and which is negative?
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Using a battery and multimeter it looks like the left tab is positive. Originally Posted by icr
How did it turn out? Was "+" on the right?
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Great thread and all good responses. One speaker? no problem. And your amp does not need to be "in-phase" with the other instruments/amps.
I, on the other hand, have an amp where I change the polarity between the 2 10inch speakers. They are very different speakers, and I was going for one thing, but upon reversing the wiring, found that I liked the tone better when the 2 were "out of phase" with each other. Go figure!
In phase, lots of bass and a very full sound. It is EQ'able. But when the 2 are out of phase, it is a very pleasing tone. Quieter yes. But, the amp has enough power to make up for the loss of volume. And my amp Guru friend told me it won't hurt anything to run them that way. Or else I would not do that.
So plug in, use your ears, and go with what you like, although I guess you will prefer the "in phase" result better.
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