Speaker polarity

Titzon Toast

I changed the rear parcel shelf speakers on my 97 Prelude yesterday afternoon, I tried to guess by ear which were the negative and positive cables but I've no way of being sure.
Can any kind soul here give some advice please?

I've just ordered a set of components for the front and I'm expecting to run into the same issue when I go to fit them too.

Does the polarity even make a difference if they're just being powered by the head unit rather than an amp?

Any help would be much appreciated, thank you.

TherapyBoy

The polarity will make a big difference to the sound especially if they're not all wired the same way.

If the speakers are wired 'out of phase' (some speakers wired correctly & some wired with + & - reversed) you can generally tell by listening to music & playing with the balance/fader. If your speakers are out of phase they will sound more 'bass-y' when you are listening to just one speaker (should hear more bass when your balance/fader is more centralised) & when your balance/fader settings are neutral the sound should appear to be coming from the centre of the car. With out of phase speakers it will be more difficult to hear where exactly the sound appears to come from.

It's worth doing right, especially if you are spending money on nice speakers/amps/headunits. It'd be a waste of time & money fitting component speakers if they're not wired correctly, they'll still make noise but your original correctly-wired speakers would probably sound better than out of phase components. Take your time with the wiring, or if you are having problems bring it to a reputable car audio specialist. Again, it is worth doing right.

Titzon Toast

Thanks for the reply Therapy Boy. I'm going to have try and find out what the colours represent if I can. I couldn't really tell much of a difference when I was switching the wires around in the boot.

Any idea where I might find that info please?

JohnBoy26

Titzon Toast wrote: »

Thanks for the reply Therapy Boy. I'm going to have try and find out what the colours represent if I can. I couldn't really tell much of a difference when I was switching the wires around in the boot.

Any idea where I might find that info please?

I know for the civic you can get the info online. By googling civic ek speaker wiring diagram I managed to get the info for my car. The wiring Diagram was for the american civic but the wiring was the same.

Another way to get it is to look at the speaker connection at the back of the radio. It's usually written on the wires which speaker they are going to and wheather it's + or -.

http://www.modifiedlife.com/radio-wiring-diagram-and-car-stereo-wire-diagram-1997-honda-prelude/

Titzon Toast

@ JohnBoy26
You're a gentleman and a scholar.
That's exactly what I was after.
Thank you.

greasepalm

been a while since i looked at a speaker,in my days speaker terminals were of 2 sizes,modern cars with block connectors now.