Phase Inversion


recently read about a cary slp98 pre amp as well as a few others that are phase inverting. also read that this can be reversed by changing the polarity of the speaker wires. my question, why do manufacturers do this? does it make an audible difference? why reverse it? i also have read about cd's that are recorded phase reversed. what is the point of all this. thanks alot.

aloha keith
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Showing 1 response by atmasphere

I thought Clark Johnson wrote the Wood Effect.

Most recording engineers are unconcerned with polarity. As a result roughly half of all recordings are incorrect. You will want a switch to do the job- getting up to change the speaker cables can get to be rather a pain :)

If you are listening to multi-tracked recordings it may make no difference, as tracks get inverted going through effects loops and the like, so its one jumble for another. But if it is a pure recording (2 or 3 mic true stereo) the difference can be quite notable.