2. amps-preamps
  3. 147027-10803

Why do some manufacturers reverse preamp polarity in the first place?

My Rogue RP-5 reverses polarity, so I switch the pos / neg at speaker terminals. The manual does not mention this, however, I wrote the company and they the amp does reverse the polarity. 

Now my question is...why? I would say 98% of buyers of this amp do not know to reverse the cable connections. I would say most reviewers did not as well. Yes, I realize, polarity reversal is not noticable in most instances. Especially, since many recordings are all over the place when it comes to polarity (at least that is what I've read).

So the question remains...why...why not just have the amp terminals set up so the buyer can just plug in as normal?
aberyclark

Showing 6 responses by atmasphere

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,104 posts
 
^^ This is the same guy that was selling a CD duplicator called the RealityCheck, claiming he had upgraded the firmware somehow to justify a healthy markup. He was discredited as (although the duplicator did work well) turned out there were no mods to the duplicator other than said healthy  markup.

And this is the same person that made the amusing claims in my room at T.H.E. Show I posted about earlier. IMO we can put his claims to bed as inaccurate and move on. 50% of all CDs is a much more accurate number.  Keep in mind that our preamp was the first on the market to have an absolute polarity switch...
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,104 posts
 
The Polarity pundit claims 92% of CDs are in Reverse Polarity. And he has a Polarity List to back it up. Furthermore the Polarity Pundit claims entire record labels are in Reverse Polarity. What evidence do you have? Who is right? I await your evidence.
He does and presents no evidence whatsoever. He came into our room one time and insisted that our room was in reverse polarity. I flipped the polarity switch on our preamp. Then he insisted that you couldn't hear it on LP- only CD. So I played the same track on CD as I had it on hand. Then he insisted that you couldn't hear it if the source was analog...
And then he left the room hastily, leaving behind only our impressions of him, with which we made jokes from for the rest of the show.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,104 posts
 
But 50-50 assumes no audio engineers or mastering engineers check for Polarity and I don’t buy it. I’m not saying it’s impossible, just the probability is low.
Recording engineers in fact do not check for polarity. For the most part they regard polarity as so much hand waving. So 50% of all recordings having reverse polarity is correct.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,104 posts
 
Over the years I find bass is the greatest offender.
I hear it more in the brass instruments.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,104 posts
 
We've had a polarity switch on our preamps since their inception. Changing speaker cables around is a real pain!
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,104 posts
 
Its rare that the absolute polarity is audible- you need a purist recording that is done with only two mics.

50% of all recordings are in reverse polarity to begin with, since the recording industry does not pay any attention to this issue.
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