Weekly Q&A: Answers | Week of May 27, 2024

Understanding Phase Switches at Source vs. Subwoofer...

Question:

I'm in the process of fine tuning an REL Carbon subwoofer and would like to know if changing the phase on the REL is the same as changing the phase by using the phase invert switch on my Luxman D03X CD Player. When I activate the players invert switch, the sound of my system appears louder and the soundstage opens up a bit.

-Mark

Answer:

The phase invert switch on the CD player should affect phase at all frequencies, whereas the phase switch on the REL subwoofer should only affect the phase of the subwoofer relative to the main speakers. So, to be clear, these switches perform different functions.

The CD player switch is designed to affect absolute phase, which you might think of as whether a positive voltage (signal) causes the speaker drivers (all of them) to move forward or backwards. Since it can be hard to know the absolute phase of a recording (from mics through to the data on the recording) and the absolute phase of all your equipment, it is hard to say what is “correct”…