I am looking at alot of new receivers and they have phase control normal/reverse. Does this change the sound or just how the woofer moves?
Thanks,
Brian

 

both sort of. Look at it this way.

You have two subs, one in phase and one out of phase. When you send a bass note to them one will move out and then in while the other will move in then out (this is the out of phase one). It does affect how it blends with the rest of the system. There is no better, you just have to try it out really. It varyies car to car, sub to sub, install to install.

SO if your wanting to know if its an option you should try to get, I would say yes. It can make a large difference, or a little....and it isn't an expensive option so I say get it for flexability.

 

your subs should always be in phase with each other. The sub phase switch reverses the phase of the signal going to all of the subs. Having the phase reversed will result in the signal blending a little differently with your high frequency drivers. Screw with it and see what sounds best to you.

 

Cool, that is what I needed to know. Thanks guys,
Brian

 

if one sub hits in then out, and the other out then in, you have the polairty of one of them switched... they both should move the same way no matter what... unless for some reason you have them in sterio, not mono, and the sound is only on the right/left side

 

No. If you have them running out of phase, one speaker will do the total opposite of the other. This will cancel out the sound of both subs. Don't believe it, try it. You will have two subs that will be moving a hole lot of air, but not creating any sound waves.

The same thing happens on any speaker. If you have two 3 1/2" speakers with a 1" dome tweeter on them and you run them out of phase, they to will cancel each other out. It isn't as noticable because the sound waves move so fast at higher frequencies that it's harder for our ears to detect the change.

Sometimes, with midbass and higher frequencies, you can alter the time that the sound waves reach your ears by running them out of phase. Since the driver's side speaker is closer to you than the other, switching the phase can cause the sound waves to reach your head at the same, or about the same time. It can add to imaging and soundstage.

I've tried several theories, diagrams, etc., of different ways to set up the "phase shift", and I thought they all sounded like crap. That could just be that I've gotten used to hearing a crappy sound stage and imaging, and "different" to me seemed "bad".

Kinda like when you get used to drinking cheap beer. Then you have an expensive beer that's much fuller, and has more kick, it tastes funny at first.

It's all what you're used to. We're creatures of habit. What we get used to is what we learn to like.

 

but what im saying is that if you hook up subs in mono, witch most people do, because they bridge the channels on the amp, i cant change the phase, because they both hit at the same time because they are in mono

 

I know what you're saying and what you're saying is wrong.

If you hook it up like the pic below, the speakers will be out of phase and you won't hear much bass, if any at all.

 

why would you ever hook up subs like that? out of all the ways ive ever seen subs hooked up, or hooked them up myself, i have never seen that. if they are ever hooked up like that its with the + to + and the - to - so when each sub hits, it hits the notes at the same time so because the sound waves are being produced at the same time and frequency the amplitude is doubled.... either that or you run them in series + to - but then again they both hit at the same time.
Normally the only reason you would hook up + to - is if they are in series, not parallel.

 

Ya know what. I misunderstood this post. I thought you were simply telling him that even if you have them running out of phase, they should move the same way no matter what.

Now that I read it again, I understand that you were simply pointing out that if one moves out and the other moves in, then that means you have them out of phase.

Then in the next sentence you point out that they both should move the same way. Use actual sentences. The "...." is used as a continuation of one sentence which is why I misunderstood.

Now I understand what you were saying. The reason I drew that pic is to show what it looks like if you run them out of phase. Basically what NOT to do.

Sorry about the confusion. We are both on the same page, I just didn't realize it by the way you worded your post.

 

heh... whoops... i guess i really gota stop the ... but its just so much fun :P