Speaker wiring

[Buzzrock 14947]

We moved into a new house, and in the basement there are two speakers built into the walls. The wires run back to where my receiver is, and I could plug them into my B speaker outputs, but I don’t know which wires go to which speakers. There is one each of black, white, green, and red. Is there a way to figure out which wires connect to which speakers without a) damaging any equipment and b) pulling the speakers out of the wall?

[crash_davis 23115]

i would assume that the black/white are a pair and the red/green are another pair.  or you can use a multimeter, but someone smarter than i will have to explain that to you.

[Tonesky 952]

At the receiver, is there one set of four color, or two.  If one, I'd try red and black to one, and green and white to the other.  In any event, you can't damage the speakers by playing with it until you get sound.  At worst, you have reversed polarity, which, again, will not damage either speakers or amp.

Edited September 26, 2019 by Tonesky

[rage-a-holic 4486]

Easily. Get a 9 volt battery. Test each possible wire pair. Probably takes 2 minutes.

[Buzzrock 14947]

Not following you rage. What will the speaker do when properly connected to the 9v?

[Sam Lin 3562]

Be careful doing this. You can damage tweeters easily. I would suggest a normal AAA battery for lower voltage, and make sure you just tap the wire against the battery, don't hold it there for any length of time.

Have a helper go stand next to one speaker. Hold one wire to one pole of the battery. Tap each other wire on the other pole of the battery (one wire at a time). You'll hear crackling or a pop from the speaker when you have the correct wire for the pair. Then the remaining 2 wires will be the other speaker.

Finally, you need to figure out wire polarity (if you care - on a basic in-wall install you'll never hear the difference if one is out of polarity). To do this, you need to take off the speaker grill and have someone look at the speaker cone. If the speaker contains multiple cones, look at the biggest one, it'll be easiest to see. Again do the battery tap above, but this time the buddy at the speaker isn't listening, he is looking to see if the cone moves outward or sucks inward when the battery is tapped. If it moves outward, mark the wire that is on the battery + as speaker +. If it sucks inward, mark the wire that is on battery - as speaker +. Do the same on the other pair of wires for the other speaker. Done. Again, I emphasize this can cause speaker damage, especially the polarity test as you often need to keep the battery connected a bit longer to be able to clearly see the speaker cone movement.

[Buzzrock 14947]

Thanks I’ll give that a shot.

[kangsta 50]

11 hours ago, Sam Lin said:

Be careful doing this. You can damage tweeters easily. I would suggest a normal AAA battery for lower voltage, and make sure you just tap the wire against the battery, don't hold it there for any length of time.

Have a helper go stand next to one speaker. Hold one wire to one pole of the battery. Tap each other wire on the other pole of the battery (one wire at a time). You'll hear crackling or a pop from the speaker when you have the correct wire for the pair. Then the remaining 2 wires will be the other speaker.

Finally, you need to figure out wire polarity (if you care - on a basic in-wall install you'll never hear the difference if one is out of polarity). To do this, you need to take off the speaker grill and have someone look at the speaker cone. If the speaker contains multiple cones, look at the biggest one, it'll be easiest to see. Again do the battery tap above, but this time the buddy at the speaker isn't listening, he is looking to see if the cone moves outward or sucks inward when the battery is tapped. If it moves outward, mark the wire that is on the battery + as speaker +. If it sucks inward, mark the wire that is on battery - as speaker +. Do the same on the other pair of wires for the other speaker. Done. Again, I emphasize this can cause speaker damage, especially the polarity test as you often need to keep the battery connected a bit longer to be able to clearly see the speaker cone movement.

Does this trick work for car audio speakers as well?  Have a couple small tweeter speakers up by the dash of an old project car that have never worked for me (in addition to one other speaker). All speakers were re-wired for a new head unit at some point and there's a bird nest of shit in the dash so I figure i've got nothing to lose. 

[rage-a-holic 4486]

2 hours ago, kangsta said:

Does this trick work for car audio speakers as well?  Have a couple small tweeter speakers up by the dash of an old project car that have never worked for me (in addition to one other speaker). All speakers were re-wired for a new head unit at some point and there's a bird nest of shit in the dash so I figure i've got nothing to lose. 

It works for any speaker. I learned it from the guys at Earmark Car Audio in Dallas about 30 years ago.

[rage-a-holic 4486]

8 hours ago, Buzzrock said:

Thanks I’ll give that a shot.

The reason I suggested a 9 volt battery is that depending on your speaker and location, a AAA battery may not move the speaker enough for you to hear it. A 9 volt definitely will.

[crash_davis 23115]

14 hours ago, Sam Lin said:

Be careful doing this. You can damage tweeters easily. I would suggest a normal AAA battery for lower voltage, and make sure you just tap the wire against the battery, don't hold it there for any length of time.

Have a helper go stand next to one speaker. Hold one wire to one pole of the battery. Tap each other wire on the other pole of the battery (one wire at a time). You'll hear crackling or a pop from the speaker when you have the correct wire for the pair. Then the remaining 2 wires will be the other speaker.

Finally, you need to figure out wire polarity (if you care - on a basic in-wall install you'll never hear the difference if one is out of polarity). To do this, you need to take off the speaker grill and have someone look at the speaker cone. If the speaker contains multiple cones, look at the biggest one, it'll be easiest to see. Again do the battery tap above, but this time the buddy at the speaker isn't listening, he is looking to see if the cone moves outward or sucks inward when the battery is tapped. If it moves outward, mark the wire that is on the battery + as speaker +. If it sucks inward, mark the wire that is on battery - as speaker +. Do the same on the other pair of wires for the other speaker. Done. Again, I emphasize this can cause speaker damage, especially the polarity test as you often need to keep the battery connected a bit longer to be able to clearly see the speaker cone movement.

[Catpfish 618]

Edited September 27, 2019 by Catpfish

[freyguy 4305]

C'mon man, it's 4 wires.  Only so many combinations to test here....whatever you hook into  the receiver is the standard, then from there it's academics.

Edited September 28, 2019 by freyguy

[tbone_ 14181]

[chikin23 384]

You can use a cordless drill battery as well.

[baboso 6057]