Which speaker wire is which?

Colour-coding: Speaker wires are often colour-coded, which will help you remember which one is positive and which one is negative. The most common colour coding is red and black, where red is positive and black is negative.

What color wire is for speakers?

The color code for four-conductor wire is speaker one: Red (positive), Black (negative) speaker two: White (positive), Green (negative). Its purpose is to carry an electrical signal (voltage and current) from the amplifier (or the amplifier section of a receiver) to the speakers.

Which speaker wire is positive?

Every speaker wire will have an indicator to tell them apart, such as color. In some high-end speaker wires, the insulation is transparent, or see-through, enough to see the bare wires. When this is the case, usually the silver wire will be the positive polarity and the copper wire will be negative.

What are the two wires on a speaker?

Speaker wire is made of two separate cables that need to be connected to the positive and negative connectors on the amplifier and speaker. It doesn’t matter which way round you connect the wires – even if the wire is marked with a plus and minus.

How do you tell if a wire is positive or negative?

If you have a wire where both sides are the same color, which is typically copper, the strand that has a grooved texture is the negative wire. Run your fingers along the wire to determine which side has the ribbing. Feel the other wire which is smooth. This is your positive wire.

Why does my speaker wire have 4 wires?

So, why do speakers have 4 terminals? Speakers have 4 terminals to allow for bi-wiring connections. Speakers with 4 terminals offer split connections, which creates two sections. Compared to speakers that have 2 terminals, the varieties that have 4 are capable of bi-wiring.

Does positive and negative matter on speaker wires?

If both speakers are wired the same, whether in the correct polarity or reversed polarity, there will be virtually no effect.

What happens if I wire my speakers backwards?

Reversing speaker wire polarity is a common audio error. This action is known as making the speaker “out of phase,” and results in audio oddities. Although this is not dangerous to a speaker or amplifier, proper power delivery and speaker response is not possible with reversed speaker wires.