Speaker cable connections

[Jmohd]

Hi,

1) Will speaker cable wrongly connected to the amplifier (out of phase) damage the speaker?

2) Correct me if i'm wrong, should the standard colour code be negative = red and positive= black?

In the user guide, picture A shows amplifier positve is connected to "red" speaker input and amplifier negative is connected to "black" speaker input.

[denjo]

Jmohd

Red is positive and black is negative. If connectors are reversed, i doubt it will damage the speakers. the phase would be reversed. So, if you listened to a track when hitherto the vocalist was on the right, you will now hear him/her on the left.

Congrats on your lovely setup!

I am still hoping my carpenter will custom make my stands! :)

Best Regards
Dennis

[A.S.]

... So, if you listened to a track when hitherto the vocalist was on the right, you will now hear him/her on the left...

No! Not true!

If you swap the channels the vocalist will as you say move from one speaker to the other (assuming that he/she is recorded in one channel - if they are recorded dead centre as many are, the vocalist will not move). But was the question about reversing the phase of both speakers? There should be no detectable change in the sound you hear if you reverse the phase of BOTH speakers. I emphasise BOTH speakers because if you reverse the phase of only one, you will tear apart the sound stage.

As far as the amp is concerned, a music signal is so phase-confused that it does not make any difference to the amps ability to drive the speakers.

Strong recommendation .... red to +, black to - on both speakers and at the amp and leave well alone!!

[Jmohd]

Jmohd

Red is positive and black is negative. If connectors are reversed, i doubt it will damage the speakers. the phase would be reversed. So, if you listened to a track when hitherto the vocalist was on the right, you will now hear him/her on the left.

Congrats on your lovely setup!

I am still hoping my carpenter will custom make my stands! :)

Best Regards
Dennis

Thanks Dennis,
What stand are you uisng now?

[denjo]

Hi Jmohd
My carpenter just confirmed the order for custom made wooden stands (solid wood pillars, MDF board top and bottom, cherry wood veneer) for SGD 520, best price. I said "Yes"! Jimmy is delivering the Harbeths on Friday 9 May and it would be awful if I did not have stands.
My Leben is coming along very well! Over the weekend, a friend of mine (who owns the Audionote SORO, presently under repair) lent me his NOS RCA 6L6GC tubes which I popped into the Leben. The Leben has never sounded so good! I can't wait for the Harbeths to arrive!! If it sounded so good with my diminutive Rogers LS3/5a, it must sound even better with the HL5's!

Best Regards
Dennis

[Jmohd]

No! Not true!

If you swap the channels the vocalist will as you say move from one speaker to the other (assuming that he/she is recorded in one channel - if they are recorded dead centre as many are, the vocalist will not move). But was the question about reversing the phase of both speakers? There should be no detectable change in the sound you hear if you reverse the phase of BOTH speakers. I emphasise BOTH speakers because if you reverse the phase of only one, you will tear apart the sound stage.

As far as the amp is concerned, a music signal is so phase-confused that it does not make any difference to the amps ability to drive the speakers.

Strong recommendation .... red to +, black to - on both speakers and at the amp and leave well alone!!

Thanks Alan for the fast reply and clarification.

[Gan CK]

Hi Jmohd
My carpenter just confirmed the order for custom made wooden stands (solid wood pillars, MDF board top and bottom, cherry wood veneer) for SGD 520, best price. I said "Yes"! Jimmy is delivering the Harbeths on Friday 9 May and it would be awful if I did not have stands.
My Leben is coming along very well! Over the weekend, a friend of mine (who owns the Audionote SORO, presently under repair) lent me his NOS RCA 6L6GC tubes which I popped into the Leben. The Leben has never sounded so good! I can't wait for the Harbeths to arrive!! If it sounded so good with my diminutive Rogers LS3/5a, it must sound even better with the HL5's!

Best Regards
Dennis

Hi Dennis, any chance for me to pop by your place to listen to the Leben with SHL-5? Heard so much about this pairing but no chance to experience em so far.

Warm Regards
Gan

[Jmohd]

Hi Jmohd
My carpenter just confirmed the order for custom made wooden stands (solid wood pillars, MDF board top and bottom, cherry wood veneer) for SGD 520, best price. I said "Yes"! Jimmy is delivering the Harbeths on Friday 9 May and it would be awful if I did not have stands.
My Leben is coming along very well! Over the weekend, a friend of mine (who owns the Audionote SORO, presently under repair) lent me his NOS RCA 6L6GC tubes which I popped into the Leben. The Leben has never sounded so good! I can't wait for the Harbeths to arrive!! If it sounded so good with my diminutive Rogers LS3/5a, it must sound even better with the HL5's!

Best Regards
Dennis

Hi Dennis,

Congrats on your new purchase. Hope to see pictures of your set-up soon.

I'm thinking of a 2nd set-up around building around SHL5. May be getting Leben CS600.

Hope to join Gan to listen to your set-up.

Happy listening :)

[denjo]

Hi Jmohd

Many thanks for your wishes! I have posted a photo of my setup under the Miscellaneous section (Photo Gallery). The Leben-Harbeth is a very synergistic combo.

Best Regards
Dennis

[Sebastien]

I want to test my actual speaker's cables vs. a pair of generic copper cables. To do this, I'm looking for a set-up that I can switch on the fly from cables A to cables B. On my Luxman amplifier, I have two pairs of speaker output terminals and there is the fonction to use speaker's pair A, B or A+B.

I'm thinking of: 1) a pair of cables on amplifier's A terminal to the speakers lower input terminals and 2) the second pair of cable on amplifier's B combine to the higher input terminals on the speakers.

Can I use this set-up to compare my cables switching from A to B on my amplifier?

Sebastien

{Moderator's comment: yes, good idea but you must not remove the biwire links or you will only hear LF or HF according to which cable pair is 'live'. Do not expect to hear any difference between A or B.}

[Sebastien]

...{Moderator's comment: yes, good idea but you must not remove the biwire links or you will only hear LF or HF according to which cable pair is 'live'. Do not expect to hear any difference between A or B.}

Thanks moderator for your answer. Actually, I do not expect any differences between those cables. If it is so, I'll sell my pricer one to go with this straight generic 8 gauge OFC copper cable who way cheaper.

Sebastien

[denjo]

Hi Sebastien

That sounds like a very clever idea for A/Bing speaker cables!

I agree with the moderator to stick to the Harbeth biwire links; they are very good. Don't waste your money on exotic links!

What speaker cables are you testing? Be sure to share your findings with HUG.

Best Regards
Dennis

{Moderators's comment: you misunderstand my point. The bi-wire links MUST, repeat MUST remain in place otherwise when you switch the amp's A-B switch you will not only be switching the cables you will only hear either the tweeter in one position and the bass in the other - making a comparison useless. If you like you can change from the std. biwires to another link but you must somehow bridge the red to red and black to black at the speaker end. Is this understood?}