Riddle me this....

It was recently suggested to me that by reversing the polarity of two stereo

speakers it will readjust the depth of field in your soundstage.

In case that is unclear- If a voice was perceived as being one foot behind the

speakers and you swapped the positive to negative on the terminals of both

speakers it would make that voice move to being perceived as

one foot in front of the plane of two stereo speakers.

Has anyone heard of this experiment and what can you

share about it?

jeffseight07-22-2023 5:55am

mike_in_nc Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 1,124 posts 07-22-2023 at 06:02am Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete That won’t happen. It’s the same as flipping the polarity switch on your preamp or DAC, which typically changes the sound in ways that some people find inaudible most of the time and a few others other find highly important for musical realism. Most people seem to find it pretty subtle on most recordings.
jjss49 Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 6,612 posts 07-22-2023 at 01:49pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete no it doesn't work that way
lewm Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 12,537 posts 07-22-2023 at 03:46pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete Results Depend upon the type of speaker (unidirectional vs dipole vs bipole and line source vs point source), the room, and listener bias. But no, it’s not as simple as your proposal suggests. With my dipolar ESLs, I hear no effect at all of changing phase by 180 degrees.