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Author Topic: Monitors out of phase?  (Read 1969 times)

Afroj1

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Monitors out of phase?
« on: March 25, 2005, 08:01:39 AM »

Hello everybody,

I'm new here, found this place doing a search and thought maybe someone could hep me out.  I have a pair of Alesis Monitor twos, they sound alright but I have noticed a problem, especially noticable with deep bass sounds.  If I have the bass panned in the exact center it sounds quiet even hollow.  If I pan it all the way right or left it sounds deep and heavy, the way I would like it to be when it is coming out of both speakers.  Any ideas what could be causing this.  I did notice that the cables going to each monitor are different lengths, could that be an issue?  Also, the room I'm in has not been acoustically treated at all.
Any help is appreciated.

Many thanks,
J Confused
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Barry Hufker

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Re: Monitors out of phase?
« Reply #1 on: March 25, 2005, 08:33:51 AM »

There are a couple of things you can do.  Pardon me if I get too basic but it is better to be that than miss something.

1.Check the leads from the console to the power amp, making sure + is connected to + and - is connected to -.  Do this all the way through the chain up to and including the speakers.  If all is wired correctly, fine.  If not change the wiring.

2. Next, take a 1.5 volt battery and connect the positive of the battery to the positive of the speaker;connect the negative of the battery to the negative of the speaker.  The speaker cone should push forward.  Do this to both speakers.  If both push forward fine, if not do both pull in?  While the second case is not desireable, at least both speakers have the same polarity.  If one pushes out and the other in, then there is something wrong.

3. Play a recording through only one speaker with it panned left or right.  How does it sound?  If it sounds OK then proceed to the next.  If it sounds hollow, then I would begin to suspect the room.  Do the same with the other speaker.  Then pan one speaker center.  Does it sound hollow by itself?  If yes, it is the room.  If not, it is the electronics.

4. Not knowing much about your room, I would be it is fairly small and that you have your speakers set up in the null of a standing wave.  You might try moving your speakers slowly away from the listening position to hear if the bass quality improves.  You might have to move them a few feet.  There is a wonderful, free program from rpginc.com called the Room Optimizer.  Download this and see if it leads you to an acoustic solution.

Barry
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jimmyjazz

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Re: Monitors out of phase?
« Reply #2 on: March 25, 2005, 09:16:49 AM »

Stick your monitors face to face and play some music.  Reverse the leads on one monitor.  Out of phase will have almost no bass, in phase will have plenty.  Done.

(This ignores absolute phase, which is a topic for another day.)
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Afroj1

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Re: Monitors out of phase?
« Reply #3 on: March 25, 2005, 09:41:24 AM »

I found my problem.  I am only using a home theatre amp to power the monitors and I had put mixed up the monitor connection to the amp.  For each monitor I had split the signal putting one in the right input and one in the left.  I put them both in the right and both in the left for the other one and wala! problem solved.  Thank you Barry for the help.  I actually discovered it when trying your suggestions.

Thanks again,
J
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