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In Reply to: Absolute polarity and SACDs. posted by Phil W on March 4, 2007 at 11:23:59:
HowdyI don't see why it would be more or less common on SACDs than CDs or records...
I have some associates who clearly hear differences when I flip my polarity switch for some SACDs and express an opinion one way or the other, but I don't hear anything that matters to me when I do it for them :)
Follow Ups:
Are you saying that you hear no diffence when inverting polarity (on discs where others hear it) or that the difference you hear is either insubstantial or simply unimportant to you given your sonic preferences? Thanks.
HowdyI hear a little difference, perhaps best described as a change in the size/shape of the sound stage. The change is small enough that I never even play with my polarity switch except if a guest requests me to. Some guests obviously have stronger reactions to the different settings and for them I switch it to whatever they want.
Polarity on the source makes a huge difference. If the system is very sensitive and the source is a reference piece you will notice better highs and lows when the polarity is going in the right direction. Only one way to tell if the polarity is correct and that is with your ears. If you can tell then your system is pretty resolving. You should get sweeter highs, better low level detail and a more full midrange with less hardness or forwardness. If you have some music that has a lot of piano in it then play this pretty loud a few times and then switch the polarity. You can use a cheater plug to do this.
Ummm, methinks you are conflating two different "polarities." One (the one with the cheater plug) has to do with power connections and the fact that, in North America at least, AC power is delivered with one leg "hot," the second leg "neutral" and the third leg "ground." "Neutral" is tied into "ground" at the power box in your house. Sometimes, because of internal wiring of equipment, flipping the neutral and the ground will improve the sonics.The other "polarity," has to do with the audio signal; so, that can be done at the source, or even at the speaker outputs. And some amplifiers or preamplifiers reverse signal polarity. I think the thread was about signal polarity, a somewhat more controversial subject than power polarity.
I agree here, with the caveat that it really depends on the speakers.SOme speakers have the drivers out of phase (like Maggies) because of the crossover design and on those speakers it is impossible to hear much of a difference, no matter how resolving they are.
This could be why there are those who do not hear the effect, while other vehemently do.
...I can hear the effect. They are time and phase aligned.
Harry
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