Phasing within AR9 & 90. Treble speakers out of pha...

[Rlowe]

Have I missed the plot?

I've reterminated the top 3 speakers of my AR90 speakers OUT OF PHASE with Bass speaker.

I looked through the discussion notes but could not easily identify if the following speaker phasing point had been covered. I think it could be an easy one to miss in re-conneecting the drivers properly and would affect sound quality.

When I was "checking" my AR90s I received the details of the speaker leads as shown in the Crossover network DIAGRAM and reconnected the positive speaker leads to the positive marking on the speakers thinking they would ALL be IN PHASE. However, after looking at the AR90 schematic & AR9 schematics on the Web page I now interpret it that the top 3 speakers should be wired OUT OF PHASE with the bottom bass speakers. In particular, the MARKED side of the 3 top speakers should be connected to the NEGATIVE leads while the MARKED side of the bass speakers should be connected to the POSITIVE leads.

3/4" => BLUE -ive:

1-1/2" => BROWN -ive

8" => GREEN -ive .

10" => RED +IVE.

I changed the leads around and I noticed an improvement, I think!.

Did I read the schematic right?

Richard

[Guest Barrydor]

The AR9 manual on the forum shows the wiring and the phasing of the drivers on page 29.

Since the AR90 was basically identical to the AR9 except for the smaller woofers and since the colors appear to match yours, I assume this information is also relevant to the AR90.

Take a look at the manual and see if it helps to answer your question.

Barry

[Guest Brian_D]

Simply tracing + and - leads won't always get you back to a + and - signal, respectively. Remember, crossover components can shift phase angle, and the manufacturer may have designed the speaker this way.

-Brian

[Rlowe]

Thanks for your comment, however, when I reread p29 I cannot find any notes

to indicate if the yellow lead (+ive), for example, should be connected to the

(+ive ) on the speaker terminal. Am I missing something in the notes?

Just in case I didn't explain myself very well I have rewritten my query.

BACKGROUND: I have read a lot about correct phasing between speakers,

and assume phasing within multi-speaker units would be just as important.

I had cause to reconnect my AR90 speakers and in doing so confirmed the information

you indicate is on p29 of th AR9 manual. Therefore I connected both speaker leads

and speaker terminal (+ives as shown on p29) together for all 3+2 speakers.

However, after I downloaded the “AR90schematic.jpg”from the Classic speaker page

I looked closely at it and noticed it appears to have information

on the phase connections for the top 3 speakers which put them

out-of-phase with the Bass speakers.

For example, the schematic shows the lead

(YELLOW or BLUE depending on which diagram you refer to)

coming from the 6uF capacitor (POSITIVE)

connected to the NEGATIVE terminal of the top speaker (etc.)

and the Red lead (POSITIVE) from the 350uF capacitor

connected to the POSITIVE of the Woofers.

PROBLEM

Therefore, if I connect the positive (for example the YELLOW) lead

to the Positive terminal of the speaker, I would connect it IN-PHASE

with the Bass speakers which is the inconsistent with my reading of the schematic. No?

I would have assumed the AR Schematics would be the reference point.

Alternatively, if AR changed the colours in the manual

to ensure correct speaker terminal connections by customers.

The AR9 Crossover network diagram is misleading because of

the reverse connection points in its schematics.

[Guest Brian_D]

The crossovers for the AR9 and the AR 90 are different, so I would't use one diagram for the other speaker...

If you look at the table on the AR90's user manual (page 20 on the downloadable one on this website) you find the wiring diagram in plain english:

Tweeter: Positive=yellow

Dome Mid: Positive=orange

8" Mid: Positive=white

Woofers: Positive=red

Now download the crossover diagram, and what do you see:

Tweeter: Positive=yellow

Dome Mid: Positive=orange

8" Mid: Positive=white

Woofers: Positive=red

(Positive is designated by the + sign above or below the driver's drawing)

Page 18 of the AR90 manual states "The polarity of all drivers is marked with a "+" or a red dot at or near the positive terminal."

I would certainly use the manufacturers diagram to wire them. Whether or not the speakers are truly in or out of phase would need to be determined by the use of an osiliscope, because the crossover components may shift the phase 180 degrees. Whatever the case, that's how AR designed them.