How To Easily Identify Speaker Wire Polarity(Positive & Negative)

How to easily identify the polarity (+ or -) of UNMARKED home stereo sound system speaker wires, or speaker wires you're unsure of the polarity without removing the speaker from the housing to look at the connections. Many times people will discover speaker wires sticking out of a wall(especially in a newly purchased home) which will connect to a surround sound system, but those wires may not be properly marked. In this video I also explain how to get rid of "Volume Control Crackling" in audio output.
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[@jesselackey5333]

I have been playing guitar and installing my own sound systems in my home and vehicles for decades and didnt know this. I have a 700 watt seven channel stereo thats gonna get a lookover now.. Thanks.

[@xanataph]

That's a good tip. We used to often do this when I worked in the live sound industry, we tended to use fresh 9 volt batteries as usually we were dealing with 15" drivers. Sometimes after getting one back after sending it for a re-cone they would be wrong. The accepted standard is +ve will make the speaker push out when connected correctly, as you state, but for some reason JBL always had used the opposite! The speaker would pull in when connected to the +ve marked terminal! So usually we connected these drivers "backwards" so they would be correct!

[@RiffRaffMama.]

Best bit was when you did the trick with the battery. That was exactly what i needed to know and was something I could (and did) do at home without having to disassemble and reassemble my laptop two or three times to ensure I got it right.

[@electronicsNmore]

Glad you found the video helpful.

[@kahlesjf]

Thanks for the helpful post. As an aside, I was surprised you did not give an explanation for the neodymium magnet on the negative pole of the AA battery. And the attachment of the alligator clip to it almost slipped from view without notice. I have used magnets in this way, but someone looking for a speaker polarity test might also be unfamiliar with that technique.

[@RiffRaffMama.]

I figured it was just there to hold the wire in place so you could connect the other wire without involving sticky tape or your toes. Did I miss something?

[@alexparker8744]

great information -- thank you so much. if i may also say: i don't understand why so many youtube videos explain in the actual video what is already explained in the title. half of this video is a waste of everyone's time. we already know what the video's about -- that's why we clicked on the video in the first place. just show us how to do the thing.

[@pruff5072]

Full of tips. I liked the tip on cleaning noisy volume knobs and the tip on using a neodymium magnet for connecting your test battery to your test lead.

[@electronicsNmore]

Glad it was helpful!

[@mobilewired]

2:30 is where you want to be

[@commandopando8776]

i love you

[@dragonmaid1360]

Awesome, we are currently putting in car speakers and the wires are not colour coded so this was such an easy way to check. Thanks!

[@electronicsNmore]

Glad my video helped you! Be sure to check out my extensive video playlist below and share. Thank you kzbin.infoplaylists

[@danielayris3623]

@@electronicsNmore how did this help?

[@danielpiotrowski1681]

I never realized speakers were polarity sensitive. Thanks for sharing

[@GregoMorgan]

Daniel Piotrowski They're not. The + and - are here to make sure different speakers are in phase with each other but for one speaker it doesn't make any difference since it's driven by AC current.

[@electronicsNmore]

Daniel Piotrowski They will work connected either way, but for the best sound quality you should have + and - in the correct spot, which is the reason why speakers are marked + and -.

[@lecsu131]

Easy peasy! Thanks, didn't know it was that easy!

[@electronicsNmore]

You're welcome Alex! Be sure to look over my video playlists below for many other videos of interest to you, and most importantly take one minute to share a link to my channel with others on social networking sites. Thank you kzbin.infoplaylists

[@racerxonthe8th]

I didn't know how to test them before. Thanks.

[@electronicsNmore]

You're welcome!

[@craignehring]

Some wire pairs will have a few strands of different color on one of the but usually very hard to see. I have never seen paired "zip wire" that did not have an outer identifier that was either ribbed or a single raised line verses the smooth jacket next to it. This is true for clear and or color insulation. Then there is the stranded wire with a fabric marker hiding under the insulation. Love the battery test, been using this for ever

[@rossdaisomont7786]

Great tip. I did not know that and now I do.

[@mach5jeep]

You identified the speaker polarity but not the wire polarity

[@electronicsNmore]

I identified which wire leading to the speaker is positive/negative.

[@DJSickey]

I was more interested into how to detect which is positive, and which negative wire, not the speaker connection... Mainly im installing speakers in car, in the trunk, and idk if wires are correctly connected behind radio, so i wanted a test for that... On speakers, + and - are clearly labeled, but i was more curious about wires themselves, how to identify positive one and negative one

[@malcolmdenham2537]

Excellent piece of information. Thank you very much.

[@electronicsNmore]

Thanks Malcolm! Be sure to look over my extensive video playlists for many other videos of interest to you, and most importantly share links to my videos on social networking sites. kzbin.infoplaylists

[@Silverline2572]

So you have to take out & separate the woofer to make the positive polarity confirmation? I have 16" Infinity woofers with fairly big magnets. Is there a way I can test the speaker 'red' wire input, which I've always assumed is positive, but this obviously isn't always the case. What about receivers, amps, pre amps? Are we to assume there marked speaker inputs + & - are always correct or no? Apologize if I'm missing something, but I've had high end home stereo equip for 25 years & car subs without issue..Except for neighbors calling the cops because of the bass..I'm not mocking, as I'm glad you brought this to my attention..I did watch the video twice & thank you for it..Maybe I'm making it more complicated then it is..Thx

[@paulhunter123]

how do you identify which is positive wire and which is neutral however?

[@electronicsNmore]

Disconnect the speaker wires from the sound system then connect the battery to the wire leading to the speaker.

[@paulhunter123]

@@electronicsNmore oh of course thanks

[@danielayris3623]

But how do you know if the wire going to the speaker positive or negative

[@electronicsNmore]

The best way is to remove the wire from the sound system, then connect the battery to the wire, look at the speaker movement, then you'll know which wire goes where on the sound system.

[@clariemcleod2367]

How do you identify the audio output polarity. This vid shows speaker polarity

[@electronicsNmore]

Using a voltmeter. :-)

[@scottouimet2865]

@@electronicsNmore got a video explaining this? I can't find any.

[@pietrog]

@@scottouimet2865 its dc so just put a multimeter in the contacts and if you get a - voltage then reverse the leads and the red one is the positive and the black one the negative

[@scottouimet2865]

I found an app that plays a tick through the speakers and tell if it is in or out of phase... It was called Polarity Checker. It was super helpful.

[@sharifsircar]

@@pietrog Thank you, that's all I wanted to confirm

[@nathanyamaha465]

What is the magnet on the battery for?

[@tickerrocky7251]

You still did not check the wire polarity. You checked the speaker not polarity of wire coming out of the stereo.

[@electronicsNmore]

Seriously? You connect the battery by the stereo and have a person watch the speaker! LOL

[@maunakea7992]

Very good

[@electronicsNmore]

Glad you enjoyed the video Glenn! Be sure to look over my extensive video playlists below for many other videos of interest to you, use supplied Amazon links to support my channel when making purchases(No added cost to you), and share links to my videos with many others on social networking sites. Thank you! kzbin.infoplaylists

[@CSSIandAssociate]

Thanks for the vid. Another reason pots and other parts go bad is because the owner is a smoker. Mom was a huge smoker her electronics were always going bad way before should have.

[@saarike]

+William Ward So true.

[@joesmania]

Dude!!! You're absolutely NOT showing how to test the WIRES that "look the same" for polarity... You're simply showing how to test the speaker connectors for polarity... And the worst thing is because of the misleading title, & the extra credit course on cleaning potentiometers, we have to wait 4 minutes until we find out that you honestly think that by directly feeding the speaker at it's inputs, you're somehow proofing polarity of the amplifier, or radio, or whatever the audio feed signal source might be with the identical wires hooked to it.. Guys, this is the 4th vid I've watched that's not seen a difference between the words "wire" & "speaker", so here's what I'm going to just try: (Wish me luck) Assuming your wires are unhooked from any speaker, & accessible. 1. Turn on your audio source, & DO NOT HOOK UP A SPEAKER TO THE WIRES.. 2a. Take a test light & touch a grounding source someplace.. (anything bare metal & hooked to the chassis on a rig, or run your own.. then touch one of the wires until your test lead lights up... You've touched the positive. OR... 2b. Take a multimeter set it to continuity. Touch the 2 leads to make sure you can hear the beep. Touch one probe to a grounding source. Touch the other to one or the other of the wires until you hear your beep. The beepy one is your negative WIRE. Not the speaker connector, but the WIRE.. Imagine that. Hey?

[@electronicsNmore]

LOL. Seriously? You disconnect the wires from the sound system, then connect the battery to the wires! After doing that, you'll know which wire is + or -.

[@joesmania]

@@electronicsNmore 🤣🤣🤣.. Seriously? So you're trying to put some speakers in the front doors of a work vehicle where there is nothing but a hole & a pair of cut wires. How does that reply help in this scenario? The title says how to EASILY tell polarity of speaker WIRES, or something very similar.. There must be a way to do it without disassembly of the dashboard, & disconnecting the audio wires & using the battery on that end because easy ain't that.. And it still wouldn't tell you if + or - is coming through that wire after you hook the harness back to the stereo... It's still just telling you how your speaker is polarized because unless you're unplugging the wire from something red or labeled +, it's going to be what the pole of the battery you're touching it to. By testing the wires, we're really testing the output of the source, which isn't always cut & dry in automotive audio systems like it is in home theater systems.. To be "DIY-easy" it really needs to be tested right there where you have 2 cut wires in a mounting cavity. BTW: From the research I did, the "audio gurus" say it doesn't even matter as long as you have all (or both) wired the same way so the sound waves don't cancel each other out before they hit the ear hole.. I don't know. But, point is when people are looking to figure out the polarity for the speaker wires, they may already know how to do the speaker poles, & not have ready access to the back of the audio source, & even if they did, in vehicle stereos, the speaker wires are often not labeled, nor separate. It's just a bunch of wires on a multi pin harness plug all mixed in together so it's anyone's guess. Also, with the speaker wires sometimes they have multiple branch offs along the way, & can change color by the time they are at the hole where a speaker once was.. Anyways, that's way, way more of an invasive procedure than just doing some sort of simple test.. So, I assume all electrical signals in any speakers wires on any system are going to be DC in a home or an automotive system?. But not sure if a multimeter would pick that signal up like a steady flowing normal DC circuit like a lightbulb or whatever.. I'm no audio expert & only know enough electrical to be dangerous, but I do have common sense, & I know what won't help me find the answer I'm looking for in the application that I'm seeking answers in... An LED only works with continuity in 1 direction like most standard diodes. Do you think a small (like 5 to 10mm) raw LED would work for quick & easier than disassembly of stuff??

[@111sravankumar]

Thank you ☺️

[@lemonyellow3117]

Woulda been nice if you opened the potentiometer for us to see what you are talking about. Also, can't see how you are using that battery. You got a wire on the negative and you got a battery...can't see what you're doing with it. Is the wire going to the neg of the battery? Keep at it, thanks for trying.

[@warrenhaines1717]

Many thanks!

[@electronicsNmore]

You're welcome Warren! Be sure to check out my very wide range of videos, and share my channel with many others. Thank you

[@bmay81]

Excellent video man!

[@electronicsNmore]

Glad you liked it!

[@Torchi0]

This doesn't work for Car Audio if you are looking for that as I am. Car audio have the other end attached to the rear of the headunit.

[@dumbobilal]

So have you figured it out?

[@anthonytravis1420]

This just tests the polarity of the speaker. Not the speaker wires coming from the amp.

[@electronicsNmore]

Exactly. Most people have no idea which wire is POS when connecting things up to the sound system.

[@anthonytravis1420]

@@electronicsNmore So, then why the title "Identify Speaker Wire Polarity"? It should say, "Identify Speaker Polarity".

[@xvrit]

I really enjoyed that. Thanks.

[@electronicsNmore]

+‫עברית ישראל‬‎ Good to hear! Please be sure to check out my other videos, rate thumbs up, and share. Thank You

[@CSSIandAssociate]

Very good tip and easy too!

[@wanevincekeyblazeorteza6390]

your inventions sir very much applicable in mountenous area I want to learn more sir

[@electronicsNmore]

+wanevincekeyblaze Orteza Thank You! Please check out my video playlists, rate Thumbs Up, and share.

[@nickeyfynn3270]

awesome! thank you!

[@electronicsNmore]

You're welcome Nickey! Be sure to look over my extensive video playlists below for many other videos of interest to you, use supplied Amazon links to support my channel when making purchases(No added cost to you), and share links to my videos with many others on social networking sites. Stay safe! kzbin.infoplaylists

[@sfear6]

how to test the speaker wire itself with no color coding using the multimeter? for example an empty speaker cabinet with only wires connectors attached and no speakers? should I test it with my amplifier instead?

[@electronicsNmore]

Remove the end connected to the sound system, and wrap the wires around each post of a 9V battery, next take a DMM and set it for DC volts. Touch the DMM probes to the end of the speaker wire and see it you get a POSITIVE reading. If you do, you'll know the positive is on the correct spot of the 9V battery marked pos. You can also look closely at the side of the wire. One side is smooth, the other has ridges. The ridge side is POS.

[@grenvillehansen9097]

Apologies offered. As a long time professional repairer of electronic gear, including sound systems, I hate to see fingers poked at loudspeakers. A good squirt of WD40 or CRC will fix a lot of scratchy pots.

[@danielchenette9887]

If you didn't install a system and nothing is labeled. And you have multiple speakers throughout a house with wires inside the wall all going to a central location. Is there an easy way to identify which speaker belongs with which set of wires? I don't have an old stereo to hook up.

[@electronicsNmore]

Use a battery and keep tapping the battery connection fast as a person has their ear next to the speaker. They should hear clicking/popping when you find the correct speaker wire.

[@pikaonyoutube2139]

+electronicsNmore hey heard there is a active volcano off the coast of grenada causing some small but frequent quakes and we have a tsunami warning as well be safe mate hope its not too serious

[@dinushafernando5764]

im in confuse about that. becous dc voltage isnt good for speacker??????

[@jnkhall7]

Great video. Like your tips

[@stevenverner6546]

Never answered what's in the title.

[@electronicsNmore]

Of course I did. LOL. You're looking at it in reverse. You're trying to identify the wires from the sound system, and in this video I showed how to identify the wires going to speakers in ceilings/walls/etc.

[@stevenverner6546]

@@electronicsNmore nope. You did neither. You identified how to tell the polarity of the SPEAKER, not the wires. If you were only going to identify speaker polarity, you should have left "wires" out of the title.

[@electronicsNmore]

@@stevenverner6546 I demonstrated on the speaker, but clearly if the speaker was mounted with wires coming out of the wall, then you'd test the wires! Geeez

[@lecsu131]

dumbfounded...

[@jameshowardiii9304]

Thanks!!

[@electronicsNmore]

You bet! Be sure to look over my extensive video playlists below for many other videos of interest to you, use supplied Amazon links to support my channel when making purchases(No added cost to you), and share links to my videos with many others on social networking sites. Thanks kzbin.infoplaylists

[@seanseanseanseansean]

very useful, thanks

[@electronicsNmore]

You're welcome!

[@retro80s22]

Great video as usual ....keep it up

[@Byron-Dallas]

Most zip wires that are colored the same will have a ridge on one side to distinguish the two.

[@electronicsNmore]

Byron Dallas That is true, that same ridge is used on 2 conductor AC power cords to identify the neutral wire.

[@saarike]

Great tip.

[@electronicsNmore]

+saarike Thank You!

[@strelok1988]

Will AA battery work with big heavy speakers?

[@electronicsNmore]

strelok1988 If it does not, then use a lithium ion battery 18650(3.7V)

[@SuperMilhauz]

But you found polarity of speakers - not wires.

[@electronicsNmore]

SuperMilhauz What? Lol

[@greenbackz]

this only finds the polarity of the speaker itself, polarity of the wires. for example.. i am trying to figure out the polarity of the two wires coming from my car door. previous owner wired it using two idential wires so i cannot tell which is + and which is - . i need to put a new speaker in that spot, but i don't want to pull the head unit to see which wire is + and - .. so how can i tell which wire is which?

[@phil22]

I have the same problem on my speedboat. The speakers are very well installed and difficult to reach / uninstall, so I need a way to identify the wires without unmounting the speakers. Did you find something?

[@josegiraldez6230]

@@electronicsNmore so are you going to tell us how to find the polarity of speaker wires out of the factory car or not? Or is the way you showed us still identify the wires?

[@bazrazin1]

What do double speaker magnets function for.

[@craignehring]

bazrazin1 Speakers that have a stacked magnet assembly are for use near Cathode Ray Tube monitors (CRT) The smaller one is glued on top of the bottom one in an attempt to cancel out the magnetic field that normally surrounds the speaker, this second magnet is in the reverse polarity of the other. Normally if left unchecked, these magnetic fields in close proximity to the monitor it can cause the electron beam to stray and or magnetize the monitor. The result can be poor image, both in shape and color on the monitor. Flat screen LCD displays do not have an issue with stray magnetism .The larger magnet performs the basic function to supply the pole piece within the speaker with magnetic energy that the voice coil can work with.

[@electronicsNmore]

Craig Nehring Good info! I did not know that.

[@bazrazin1]

Craig Nehring excellent answer, had been bothering for years,nothing mentioned in the books & I thought it improves speaker o/p power, so just for stray magnetic field cancellation.

[@MrAllancord]

can i do this tests on a bigger speaker?

[@electronicsNmore]

JinRei Yes, any size. You may have to use slightly more voltage(2 batteries in series) if you see little if any movement in the speaker cone. Thanks For Watching!

[@rstevewarmorycom]

Since speaker output is a symmetrical AC signal, why would it matter which is positive as long as both are the same polarity? I know that's the convention, but isn't that just overly simplistic for teaching purposes?

[@electronicsNmore]

rstevewarmorycom It does matter to get the correct deeper tones out of the speaker. Speakers are marked + & - for a reason. Thanks For Watching

[@rstevewarmorycom]

electronicsNmore But Terry, why would that matter if the driving sound signal is symmetrical AC? Makes no sense.

[@electronicsNmore]

There is a slight difference in sound quality if the speakers are not wired properly, but what is really important is that ALL the speakers are wired exactly the same. If you do not wire them the same(+ & -), then one speaker will be pushing out at the same time another is pushing inward.

[@rstevewarmorycom]

electronicsNmore Yes, I said I knew that they must be the same, but why would sound quality be different as long as they are both the same polarity? Makes no sense unless you imagine that it must be exactly the same compression-rarefication as the original musical piece.

[@electronicsNmore]

I have a friend that is an acoustical engineer and he also confirmed the polarity must be right to get the correct deeper tones from the speaker. So I won't argue with him over it.

[@PaulRubino]

Excellent ++++

[@electronicsNmore]

Paul Rubino Thanks Paul! Be sure to check out my other videos, rate Thumbs Up, and share.

[@grenvillehansen9097]

Who told you that was the "right" way I see you are one of those who must poke at speakers with your fingers.So many speakers wrecked that way. Speaker cones are sprung to return outwards. read a good book on manufacture.

[@electronicsNmore]

+grenville hansen Are you always this sweet to others on KZbin? I bet you would be if you had videos on your channel and were looking to build a subscriber base. Bad attitude.

[@MrCandycaddy88]

WD-40!

[@electronicsNmore]

Yes, I have a popular video showing how to make a very similar penetrant to WD-40.

[@rafpac6]

Thats too thick a bastan accent for me.

[@electronicsNmore]

You need to learn more about accents, because it's not a Boston accent. 😂

[@TheBigsqueezer]

what are you connecting to the negative? a grounded wire? "connect this to negative"

[@OverwatchSIX]

IF YOU DONT KNOW WHICH IS POS/NEG SPEAKER WIRE IN YOUR CARS DOOR READ HERE... 2 SECOND TEST TO TELL. THIS VIDEO WILL TELL YOU ONLY WHICH TERMINAL IS POS/NEG ON THE SPEAKER ITSELF. NOT WHAT WIRE IN THE DOOR IS POS AND WHAT WIRE IS NEG IF THEY LOOK THE SAME. To test the 2 speaker wires coming through a cars door lets say that look the same... To tell which is positive / which is negative: Multi Meter in DC Volts-- Set too 200M setting (200mv)... play the stereo with pos/neg lead from multi meter , attached to the 2 unknown-which-is-pos-or-neg speaker wires, if there is a positive and always remaining positive fluctuating value. You found pos and neg. If its a negative fluctuating value, you still found pos and neg HOWEVER you currently have the positive lead on the meter attached to the neg SPEAKER WIRE coming through the door . Not being rude or anything (to the video poster) just trying to give another method that is (in my opinion) easier explained over words and easier to do in real life. :D