Testing speaker polarity

[kesslari]

Sorry if this is plain dumb...
I'm adding a second cab (O10.5 to my 010) for the first time in a lot of years.
I'm installing a speakon jack.
I recall from way back that it's useful to test polarity and make sure the speakers are in phase. Back then, it was all 1/4" jacks or banana plugs, so that was easy - touch a 9v battery to your phone plug and see which way the speaker moves. How do you do it with a speakon cable, where the connectors are inside?
Thanks,

[Tom Smit]

Have your speaker cable handy with a Speakon at one end which is installed into the cab jack. On the other end, just have bare wires which you will put on the battery while watching the speaker cone. Be careful that you don't touch both battery posts with just one bare wire.

[WB]

I sacrificed a speakon cable by cutting it in halve, and stripping the wires bare on the cut end. They can also double as two speaker break-in cables.

[kesslari]

Short of chopping up a speakon cable (or making a half-cable) - any suggestions?
I don't have a spare cable or a spare speakon plug at the moment.
I was thinking that I could play with O10 plugged in, and add the O10.5 - if it gets louder, then polarity is correct.

[jcmbowman]

Short of chopping up a speakon cable (or making a half-cable) - any suggestions?
I don't have a spare cable or a spare speakon plug at the moment.
I was thinking that I could play with O10 plugged in, and add the O10.5 - if it gets louder, then polarity is correct.

That's exactly the right approach. Instead of playing through it - I'd try to send it a clean sine wave, though. 150hz would give you a very good idea whether theyre in phase or not. Just bear in mind that depending on your listening position and the placement of the speakers it might get louder even if the polarity ir reversed. Make sure you walk around the room. If it sounds odd depending on where you stand, it's reversed. Just try it - it should be fairly obvious.

[kesslari]

Well, in a fit of cleverness generally unseen in these parts, I realized that I could test the polarity before I closed the box back up. Everything works a treat!

[gdougherty]

The NL4 connectors are very easily field stripped and pulled without needing to cut a cable in half, FYI. If your connector is an NL2, those are a pain and you might as well replace it with an NL4 anyway. If it's got a grey sliding plastic ring instead of the metal release tab then it's an NL2.