All Speakers but woofer reversed Polarity

[LabNJeep]

So, picked up the Infinity REF-3032 cfx's for the front dash and before I started just checked polarity of the factory installed speakers with the Speaker Pop and would like to confirm how everyone else uses it.

Ask as I set it up Speakerpop to connect and play the sound via BT and when I monitor the sound from center of the jeep, it gives me "+" (that's good - I thought!). HOWEVER when i move the phone to each speaker, it shows each individually as "-". If you are confused, so was I to realize - hmm what about the subwoofer (I have the premium sound). When i took a measurement directly over the subwoofer, it shows as "+" so I'm thinking that when measuring from the center of the jeep, it overpowered the other speakers. I tested again by turning bass all the way down and center of jeep now shows as "-".

So before I go on the endeavor of fixing them, just checking to see if anyone thinks I did anything wrong in the testing process? I expect that if they are all with the same polarity it wouldn't be too bad but having just the subwoofer different might just explain why I've thought now and then that something was lacking... Or am I wrong on that assumption?

Any recommendation on how best to fix?
- My ADD side will probably not be happy with everything negative
- Is it easier/possible to reverse the wires at the head unit as opposed to doing each speaker individually?

I'm half tempted to bring it to the dealer to fix so I don't have to address this. Anyone ever go and ask them to fix this before?

One last item, did see the video from Fiver Star Car Stereo How to make you Jeep JL or Gladiator sound better with Kenwood KFC X3C - YouTube and they show that most of the speakers are negative too.. So now I'm confused..

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[LSguy]

I honestly have no clue man. It could have been done on purpose, perhaps the location of the subwoofer dictated that it needed to be 180 degrees out of phase with the rest of the speakers. Unless you want to chop up your wiring harness at the amp you'll have to reverse each speaker.

 

[DarkhorseJL]

I know this is a few months late and you've probably already finished the install. But the sub is wired straight to the amp and connected via RCAs so time alignment and polarity isn't an issue. As an installer of 18 years and worked on many JLs including my JLR, the only speaker that needs reversing is the passenger knee panel. You don't need to pull out the speaker just use the Crutchfield or Metra harness and either swap the power and ground behind the pod, even if you can pull the speaker, pull the pins in the adapter and swap them to opposite holes.... or you can reverse the phase via the headunit (if running an aftermarket like Alpine, Stinger's ELEV8 or HEIGH10.

 

[LabNJeep]

I know this is a few months late and you've probably already finished the install. But the sub is wired straight to the amp and connected via RCAs so time alignment and polarity isn't an issue. As an installer of 18 years and worked on many JLs including my JLR, the only speaker that needs reversing is the passenger knee panel. You don't need to pull out the speaker just use the Crutchfield or Metra harness and either swap the power and ground behind the pod, even if you can pull the speaker, pull the pins in the adapter and swap them to opposite holes.... or you can reverse the phase via the headunit (if running an aftermarket like Alpine, Stinger's ELEV8 or HEIGH10.

Thanks for replying and the info on the base... Just want to confirm as I thought I saw a reference to this somewhere else. Are you saying that one of the knee speakers SHOULD be out of phase compared to the rest or are you just saying to I should go fix polarity on all the other speakers by doing it at the speaker (in my case when I used the Speakertest POP) to check.

 

[DarkhorseJL]

Thanks for replying and the info on the base... Just want to confirm as I thought I saw a reference to this somewhere else. Are you saying that one of the knee speakers SHOULD be out of phase compared to the rest or are you just saying to I should go fix polarity on all the other speakers by doing it at the speaker (in my case when I used the Speakertest POP) to check.

No need to test the other speakers. I've not only found out the hard way by just snapping in the adapter harness supplied by Crutchfield but also after having upgraded 13 JLs (5", 7" and 8.4" whether just speaker swaps or full HEIGH10 or ELEV8 upgraded). Both the dash, drivers side knee and whether stock 3.5"/4", 6.5" or 6x9" adapted overhead/roll bar, they are all correct polarity.... it's solely the passenger knee/kick panel that is out of phase. Jeep does that to get the correct tune and alignment so the driver hears full sound quality and directional bias.

simple solution is to cut the speaker to tabs and use GOLD ends (better conductivity) and swap the wire terminals so the large end is now a small and vice versa. The harder method and not suggested for the weekend electrician, is to pop the pins then re-install. Simply because you risk damaging the connector and the pins. You could just cut both and hardwire after reversing wires, crimp with butt connectors or soldier but you risk pulling and once you do that, it's much harder to replace speakers later.

 

[Floriduramax3.0]

No need to test the other speakers. I've not only found out the hard way by just snapping in the adapter harness supplied by Crutchfield but also after having upgraded 13 JLs (5", 7" and 8.4" whether just speaker swaps or full HEIGH10 or ELEV8 upgraded). Both the dash, drivers side knee and whether stock 3.5"/4", 6.5" or 6x9" adapted overhead/roll bar, they are all correct polarity.... it's solely the passenger knee/kick panel that is out of phase. Jeep does that to get the correct tune and alignment so the driver hears full sound quality and directional bias.

simple solution is to cut the speaker to tabs and use GOLD ends (better conductivity) and swap the wire terminals so the large end is now a small and vice versa. The harder method and not suggested for the weekend electrician, is to pop the pins then re-install. Simply because you risk damaging the connector and the pins. You could just cut both and hardwire after reversing wires, crimp with butt connectors or soldier but you risk pulling and once you do that, it's much harder to replace speakers later.

So you are saying they do that to ALL Jeeps on purpose? I have always thought it sounded out of phase but it doesn't sound bad. Does it change for the better if I swap polarity on the stock 8,4 system with the Alpine sub? Is it worth swapping?

 

[lashlee]

Swapping polarity on one or a given pair of speakers is and has been done for many reasons. Like Darkhorse mentioned Alpine/Chrysler probably did it to help with timing and phase when it get to the listener (there are times when due to distance the polarity at the speaker is one way and different once it gets to your ears) so don't fret too much. If you are doing a full install with all new drivers and a processor, it helps to start with everything in phase but with a processor you can swap polarity and get the sound to improve at the listeners ear. Sound companies have a variety of ways to "make it sound better" that the normal consumer isn't aware of.

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