Quad Elite preamp polarity

RE: Quad Elite preamp polarity, posted on June 24, 2015 at 00:46:35
pictureguy Audiophile Posts: 22597 Location: SoCal Joined: October 19, 2008	Does it matter? Most material is random. Too much is never enough

RE: Quad Elite preamp polarity, posted on June 24, 2015 at 06:40:38

PAR

If you can hear if the polarity is normal or reversed then you can reverse cable connections simply by listening to give you your preference. Alternatively you may be able to reverse the source's absolute phase if it has the facility to do so (many CDPs and some phonostages do). In fact this is the only practical way of doing it if you are sensitive to this issue as correct or normal phase may be inconsistent from disc to disc or even from track to track.

If you cannot hear it in order to make the necessary change by ear then you need not be concerned.

RE: Quad Elite preamp polarity, posted on June 24, 2015 at 06:50:33
mitcho Audiophile Posts: 123 Location: west Joined: July 17, 2004	yes. I ended up changing it by ear. thank you!

RE: Quad Elite preamp polarity, posted on June 24, 2015 at 08:40:48

airtime
Audiophile

Posts: 11287
Location: Arizona
Joined: February 4, 2003

You're just going to have to reverse the polarity of the speaker terminals - and listen for a week or two. Keep doing that until you know which way is best.

The other posters ARE correct. Some material is reversed and some is not. Best of luck with that one!

I found my Conrad Johnson sounded best reverse some stations. And better non-reversed on others. Talk about being difficult!!!!

It's a play by ear thing. Good luck and be patient.

charles

RE: Quad Elite preamp polarity, posted on June 24, 2015 at 08:52:07
b.l.zeebub Audiophile Posts: 9361 Location: 52deg 28'N,1deg56'W Joined: April 17, 2006	How do you know if your source material is inverted or not? Also if you listen to stuff that has NOT been recorded straight to stereo what makes you think that all the different instruments were recorded in the same absolute phase? Unless you have two microphones on the same instrument nobody checks for these kind of things during recording.

If you start obsessing about polarity ..., posted on June 25, 2015 at 04:42:01
Dave Pogue Audiophile Posts: 11689 Location: DC Area Joined: October 9, 2001	... you really need a preamp with a polarity switch on the remote. In addition to the performances recorded in normal and inverted polarity, many are in mixed polarity (sometimes intentionally, to bring a vocalist forward). And trust me, switching speaker cables gets old in a hurry.

Yes it DO!, posted on June 25, 2015 at 06:06:13
airtime Audiophile Posts: 11287 Location: Arizona Joined: February 4, 2003	Choose a polarity setup. Stick with it and accept the fact that recordings, CDs, streaming stations, ANYTHING you listen to is NOT going to be perfect - all the time. Just be happy when you get a cracking good recording and move on with it. Enjoy the good ones. And chill out and sit back through the bad ones.

RE: If you start obsessing about polarity ..., posted on June 26, 2015 at 05:15:53
Awe-d-o-file Dealer Posts: 21037 Location: 50 miles west of DC Joined: January 10, 2004	Mixed is the key, many many more this way than all one way or the other. E T ET "If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking till you do suck seed" - Curly Howard 1936

RE: Yes it DO!, posted on June 26, 2015 at 13:24:07

unclestu
Dealer

Posts: 5851
Joined: April 13, 2010

Then searchng for audio nirvane becomes senseless, desn't it?...

I mark my discs: simply stack a bunch in one polarity and listen to them, and then the bunch in the other polarity after one change in speakers.

I do have polarity switches in both my TT (4PDT switch in the junction box) and DAC now so that is not so important.

What is more infuriating for me is that fact that many speakers have designs which deliberately invert one driver. JM LAbs, Kefs. Wilsons....Once sensitive to polarity I can not live with a deliberate inversion.

RE: Yes it DO!, posted on June 27, 2015 at 08:22:37

b.l.zeebub
Audiophile

Posts: 9361
Location: 52deg 28'N,1deg56'W
Joined: April 17, 2006

Crossovers inevitably have some phase shift between the drivers.
In the analogue domain it is impossible to avoid this.

Speaker manufacturers invert one so the outputs of all drivers are in phase with each other.
Failing to do so will lead to a huge suck outs in the frequency response caused by the very twisted phase response.
A 2way with a 1st order xover will have a 90� shift between woofer and tweeter which can't be fixed, 2nd order 180� making inversion of one driver necessary, 3rd order 270� (see 1st order) and 4th order 360�ie in phase but delayed by one cycle.
It becomes more complex when low pass and high pass are not of the same order.

Furthermore not all drivers move forward with a positive voltage. Classic JBL and Tannoy move backwards, both manufacturers claimed that it is so to preserve absolute polarity from microphone to control room monitor in their literature.

RE: Yes it DO!, posted on June 27, 2015 at 09:42:36
AbeCollins Audiophile Posts: 46295 Location: USA Joined: June 22, 2001 Contributor Since: February 2, 2002	If all of this polarity nonsense is true and out of our control as consumers, I see no practical use for a polarity switch. The novelty of a polarity switch is fun for a while but it wears off quickly. In my case, I can't imagine stressing over polarity with every new track with remote control in hand to switch back and forth.

CMON now, posted on June 27, 2015 at 14:33:32
unclestu Dealer Posts: 5851 Joined: April 13, 2010	Take a look at Stereophile's impulse test. 99% of the speaker out there have inverted drivers. The far more insidious thing is that the majority of listeners can not hear it and accept BS for explanations Seems to me if sonic accuracy was the goal with speakers designed with inverted drivers, then you need not spend more than a few hundred dollars per component

RE: CMON now, posted on June 28, 2015 at 04:37:36

b.l.zeebub
Audiophile

Posts: 9361
Location: 52deg 28'N,1deg56'W
Joined: April 17, 2006

Spending dollars on components will not bend the laws of physics for you.

The only way to avoid crossover-induced phase shifts is to go digital active when you can avoid it at the cost of pre-ringing.
You pick your poison...

RE: Yes it DO!, posted on June 28, 2015 at 04:58:58

b.l.zeebub
Audiophile

Posts: 9361
Location: 52deg 28'N,1deg56'W
Joined: April 17, 2006

If you get into that all you are doing is making a rod for your own back.

During recording nobody cares about polarity unless you use two microphones on the same source.

Take drums: They could be mic'd from above (inverted impulse) or below or from a distance (your guess at polarity is as good as mine) or a mixture of close mic'd and one or more room mics.
Then there is equalization during mixing or recording which also produces phase shifts.
In the end nobody cares because it is impossible to have absolute polarity unless you use one mic for everybody. Which is what they did in the '50s before stereo and multitrack recording.

RE: Yes it DO!, posted on June 28, 2015 at 13:39:55
Dave Pogue Audiophile Posts: 11689 Location: DC Area Joined: October 9, 2001	With most speakers, you're absolutely right. But if your speakers are polarity-coherent AND have minimal or no crossovers, like my Gallos, polarity is hard to ignore. I didn't hear it for decades. If you can't hear it, count your blessings.

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Quad Elite preamp polarity

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