speaker hookup?

[BluesNRock87]

my amp has a black and a green lead out. i was told that these are + and - and that it matters which way the attach to the speaker.

is this true? what if they are conected the wrong way. also does it matter if the flat side of the lead is on one side or another? (lead has 2 sides, slides over connection, does it matter if u flipped it around)

basically, what the proper way to hookup a speaker in a combo amp? what are the repurcussions of doing it wrong?

thanks

[ArtieToo]

Re: speaker hookup?

Generally, black will be negative, or (-).
If one speaker is reversed phase, in relation to the other, no damage will be done, but the sound, especially bass, will be weak. You can test this easy enough by watching the two speakers in the back of your amp while you pluck a string. You should be able to see one physically move forward, while the other moves back.

Regardless, there will be a significant improvement in sound quality when there both in phase.

If both speakers are out of phase, (known as "absolute" phase), there's not much impact with a guitar amp. After all, how does the amp know if you pull a string and release it, or hit on the downstroke. Technically, the speaker should move "out" as you strike a string, but thats not very important unless you and another guitarist are playing the exact same thing at the exact same time.

[That90'sGuy]

Re: speaker hookup?

it does matter which way you wire the speakers. different wiring results in different resistance or ohms. series is the common way: speaker 1 + goes to amp - goes to speaker 2 + and speaker 2 - goes to amp. this adds the ohms up (so 2 8 ohm speakers together will equal a 16 ohm load).

[BluesNRock87]

Re: speaker hookup?

um, its a 1X12 combo.......coming out of the chasis are 2 leads, green and black

on the ONE speaker in the combo, there are 2 attachments......all im asking is does it matter how i wire up the ONE speaker?

[ArtieToo]

Re: speaker hookup?

It shouldn't matter with just one speaker. However, if you look closely, one of the terminals should have a little "plus" sign on it. Connect that to green. But its not important with just one speaker.