Got a question guys. Does it really matter how the speakers get connected? The signal or current oscillates within the speaker wire. So whats the difference?

- to - and + to +.

or

- to + and + to -

yes it matters.

How does it make a difference though?

It will affect your bass output because you speakers will be out of phase, which means they will not be going in and out at the same time.

I should of clarified myself. I know the subs must be hooked up properly. I was mainly referring to door speakers.

One speaker would be pulling while the other would be pushing, basically fighting each other. As long as you wire all of your speakers the same you should be okay.

In the case of subwoofers, the sound pressure will be equal to the movment of the cone moving in opposite directions. So since the dash speakers are seperated and far from eachother, would there be a difference in the stereo unit (ohm load). My plan is to use t-taps to tap into the dash speakers. I also have the OEM Bose kick panel speakers. This is where my issue lies. I want to hook up inline with the dash speakers but Im not too sure. I will better clarify in the next post.

If I hookup the negative lead from the kick panel speakers to the positive lead on the dash panel speakers, and so on, will there be a bad ohm load to the Sony head unit?

you should not be chaining speakers together if you're not clear on how to wire them up; you can cause damage to your deck/amps if wired wrong.

bose speakers require a different level input than your dash speakers, you cannot just tap into what's there and have it work correctly.

+ and - is strictly for making sure all speakers are correctly in phase with each other. reversing one can cause soundstage oddities and make things sound weird.

http://www.installdr.com/Harnesses/GM-Wiring.asp

i used this. tells what colors go where. helped me out tons. it was a first time for me to install a radio

Ahhhh. very nice my man. THank you.

Why are both the positive and negative leads on Model 301 speaker connectors carrying current?

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Travesti

Technically, all speaker wires carry a current which is measured in watts.

my vette had an amp for every speaker.definetely made a difference if they were wired wrong.

Because the current needs to complete the circuit to ground. For example, wire a light bulb to a battery, current flows from the positive post of the battery, through the light, then back to the battery negative (which serves as ground). Break the loop and current no longer flows and the light goes out.

Current is measured in amperes (amps), multiply that by the voltage and you get power - measured in watts. It's simple Ohm's Law.

To make things easy and simple, electrons are flowing in speaker wire, but in a oscillating fashion.

To be correct, the speakers would be out of polarity.

Speakers can be in polarity, but out of phase.

Phase is a time dependent variable, that has more to do with difference in time of sounds arriving at your ears.

There have been many times where I have wired certain speakers out of polarity to put them in phase with the overall system. This happens most often when using multi-way systems, where there may be a mid or a mid bass driver mounted at a very different distance the mid and/or tweeter that is of that same channel to your ears. This does not really apply to a full range speaker though.

As already stated, the polarity in which the speakers are connected in a system matters. If you only listened to a single speaker, you probably would never be able to tell if that speaker was wired in polarity or out. Add a second speaker, such as a stereo set-up (stereo meaning 2), then you would definitely notice if one speaker was wired out of polarity with the other.

generally when a full range speaker is wired out of polarity, the sound will be hollow, almost like listening through a tube.

Funny you should mention a tube. I had a pair of bazooka tubes in a previous ride and one was wired backward from the factory. As you said, the bass sounded very hollow. When I figured it out and reversed the wires on the "offending" tube, bass was loud and powerful as it should be.

Do belive inverted speakers are hook up backwards on purpose.

a speaker installed in a box backwards to show off the magnet.

i WENT OUT TO SHOW THESE EMAILS TO ALL 4 AMPLIFIERS IN MY OLD VETTE AND IT AGREED WITH OHM,S LAW AND EVERYTHING ELSE I TOLD IT,SO IREVERSED THE POSITIVE AND ONE DID'NT WORK AT ALL,AND THE OTHER SOUNDED LIKE CRAP.I THEN CORRECTLY COONNECTEDTHEM BACK THE WAY THEY WERE MARKED AND ALL WAS WELL WITH THE WORLD.WE MUST HAVE BEEN SLEEPING IN CLASS OR DRIVING AROUND THE DAY THEY TAUGHT OHM,S LAW AND WERE PAYING ATTENTION THE DAY THEY TAUGHT US ABOUT BEING OUT OUT OF PHASE.NOW MAYBE I SHOULD GO OUT AND SWAP MY BATTERY CABLES.IT SHOULD GO REAL FAST IN REVERSE.PANHEAD201

I have never heard of a speaker being hooked up backwards.Why would anybody wanna see a magnet?panhead201

Why the caps?

I've done it. Its just for show to have the speaker exposed. And as for hooking a sub with reverse mounting, it wired the same ( + to +, - to -). Same goes for DVC's.

They want to show off the bling. some high end ones will have chrome plated magnets n basket, and its all comes apart with allen bolts, which also mean they are big $$$ speakers. Just to show off that you spent allot.

cheap speakers can look fancy from the cone side, its the magnet side that gives away how good they really are.

Use to be clear plastic boxes made just to show off the rear side.
dumb though, wood is much better and sometimes filled with filler of some type too.

But im talking subs, single voice coil speakers.
would lose the highs if they pointed in.
Good ported/sealed sub box shouldn't matter if built "right" which way they point.

The plastic box is made of plexi-glass and the fill is called polyfill. The plexiglass box is better because its non porous and is concidered a "true sealed" enclosure. Plus if it gets wet, it won't swell like how fiberboard does. Bad thing is that it is very expensive.

my dog sat on the right side of the keyboard and I could'nt figure out how to shut them off.So I just kept pressing stuff til it quit it after I was done with the email.I am completely computer illiterate,obviously.No otheer reason,though.panhead201

No, the bad thing is that it's very reflective and gives the the enclosure a "live" sound, which colours the sounds that the speakers are trying to create.

In other words, plexi-glass is a poor choice for enclosures, due to the way the sound is changed by the material itself.

Another drawback to plex-glass is that it usually needs to be very thick to be stiff, which makes it both expensive and heavy. MDF, on the other hand, does not need to be very thick, though it can be considered to be heavy, has very good acoustic properties, it's easy to work with, which is why it is used most often.

Yeah,a company in New York used to make plexiglass guitars,they were supposed to sustain forever and have great sound quality.All they did was sound lousy and make you feel like you had an sbc hanging around your neck all night.Danny Armstrong guitars.panhead201

Yea I didn't know why but hada buddy who had a sound store and he hated them with a passion. But always had one in the store window cause some bozo would walk by and want it.

In an old corvette bose gold system every speaker has an amplifier,door speakers and rear compartment speakers,over the wheel well.panhead201

its cool man.

I agree that the plexiglass was not a good choice for sound,,,, but if there was a bar of reinforcing plexiglass inside the broad plains within, then the flexing was reduced. I know, I had a band-pass box with Rockford Fosgates (model 2212). Sounded just as good as 3/4 MDF.

Really nice speakersI just got this car and it's got some kenwood bluetooth cd player and a remote and usb port.Two 450 wattsx4 amps plus 2 subs in the boot.The only problem is I got it to race.So now I'm in the process of stripping it,welding a cage,lightening it upand finding the largest fuel cell I can get in it.I'm gonna try and vintage SCCA gt race itSo i've gotta keep it 5.0litre(305)but it's in the process of being supercharged nowI guess I'll find out if Ive got a nice sound system in it when I pull it out.I'll just put in my pickup.I've got shorty headers running into 3in straight back no cats no crossovers,exit in front of rear wheels,a supercharger,coilover susp,and plastic windows.I'm not gonna be hearing much besides car.I've got 3in 3out magnaflows in it but they're in backwards for just a little backpressure and to keep the local cops away while I tune it on these country roads where I live.But its not 110 degreees out and I'm having fun.Its been quite a while since I raced anything.I've been building them for other people,now it's my turn again.see ya later panhead201

nice z man.just checked the pics.keep playing.I'm from NYC but I stopped here to help somebody about27 years ago and I just have'nt left yet.panhead201

thanks man. In the pictures my Camaro looks good. But in person, she needs a lot of help. On the passenger fender, there is a dent. The paint has chipped away on that section. If you where to look closely, there is 2 layers of red paint and 2 upper layers of black. The PO (previous owner) wasnt too bright on getting a paint job done the right way. Oh well. She will get stripped to the paint hopefully with the next income tax check.

From how she looked when you first got her does'nt look like anything you can't handle.panhead201

You got that right. She will get better though in time. Its a life long project for me.

yeah,I do the same thing.My panhead harley,I bought in a basket in 1967.None of my kids want it so maybe I'll be buried with it.Or thrown overboard with it.I can't stand the thought of being stuck in a hole with 6 feet of dirt on me for eternity.

. I hear ya on that one.

I ain't particularly but I like keepin my options open.panhead201

Ive got my hands on a pair of bose kick panel speakers recently and I'm wondering what the best way to hook them up to my audio system. I've got a Kenwood head unit and 2- 6x9 Alpines and 2-4x6 Alpines. Chevy 86 had told me it would be fine to splice them into the 4x6 speaker wiring, but I'm having second thoughts.
Am I going to need an amplifier to push the extra two speakers, of will the small amps in the kick panels be enough. If so how should I wire them?
Sorry for all the questions, but my dash has been apart for a while and I'm anxious to get it done now that summer is here.
Any advice is much appreciated :]

If your having second thoughts, get an electronic crossover so that you can divide the frequency signal with extra patch connections. For the kick panels, get a brand name low wattage amp. Then connect the high pass low watt amp to the high pass patch connection of the electronic crossover. This way you won't add extra ohms to the stereos speaker leads. Done deal.

Forgot about those little amps. in that case, get a patch cord splitter and get yourself a full range passive crossover. Comment the splitter RCA patch cord into the PC and then run the leads from the PC to the input leads of the kp speakers. But you'll still need to ground the kp and provide the remote turn on to the power wire for the kp. If you need further help with a drawing, I can do that and post it.