How to Find Positive & Negative on a Subwoofer

Use a "C" cell or "D" cell battery to check your subwoofer.

When hooking up a subwoofer, get the positive and negative feeds correct or your speaker will not perform right. All speakers have a positive post and a negative post to connect speaker wire. When you get the wires backwards, it is known as being out of phase and results in the speaker not performing correctly. If your subwoofer isn't properly marked with a "+" for positive and a "-" for negative, follow these steps to determine which post is positive and which is negative.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• C cell or D cell battery
• Speaker wire

1. Connect the speaker wire to your subwoofer making a guess at which is the positive post and which is the negative post. Make a mark on the positive side of the speaker wire if it isn't already done for you.

2. Take the side of the speaker wire that is connected to the negative post and touch the bare wire on the other end to the negative or bottom side of the battery.

3. Take the positive side of the speaker wire and touch the other end to the positive or top side of the battery. If the speakers cone moves outwards, away from the cone, the post you have chosen as the positive post is the positive side. If the speaker's cone moves down, toward the cone, the polarity is opposite and the post you chose as the positive is actually the negative.

References

• Crutchfield: How Do I Tell Which Is Positive and Negative on My New Speakers?