jc - easy enough to take the subs out of the picture via their on/off switch and evaluate polarity changes on the Forests only.
stereo5 - Yes indeed. I am using a tube preamp (Opera Consonance Ref. 50) as part of the current configuration. Is polarity reversing something you can ascertain from specs? Would be interesting to confirm or refute that idea for the Ref. 50. However, since the subs are getting signal from the Forest speaker posts (not from pre-amp outs) any change in polarity at the Forests should "carry over" to the subs too - I would think.
Regardless, since putting the Forests back in service and using the subs with them for the first time, I’d been slightly dissatisfied with the sound (compared to from these subs w/Prelude Plus floor standers). Not a forebrain-type recognition of a problem - more a sort of nagging impression after a listening session that things just weren’t as clear or focused as they might be. Since reversing polarity that little bit of (lower mid-range?) "muzziness" is completely gone. Listened to a variety of music today and things sound nice and coherent across the frequency spectrum.
Thanks for the input folks. Again, my main purpose in starting this thread was to give some visibility to yet another "tweaking" option that’s easy, free and low risk (assuming you turn off power before switching speaker leads) but has the potential to provide some real improvement to a system’s sound.
stereo5 - Yes indeed. I am using a tube preamp (Opera Consonance Ref. 50) as part of the current configuration. Is polarity reversing something you can ascertain from specs? Would be interesting to confirm or refute that idea for the Ref. 50. However, since the subs are getting signal from the Forest speaker posts (not from pre-amp outs) any change in polarity at the Forests should "carry over" to the subs too - I would think.
Regardless, since putting the Forests back in service and using the subs with them for the first time, I’d been slightly dissatisfied with the sound (compared to from these subs w/Prelude Plus floor standers). Not a forebrain-type recognition of a problem - more a sort of nagging impression after a listening session that things just weren’t as clear or focused as they might be. Since reversing polarity that little bit of (lower mid-range?) "muzziness" is completely gone. Listened to a variety of music today and things sound nice and coherent across the frequency spectrum.
Thanks for the input folks. Again, my main purpose in starting this thread was to give some visibility to yet another "tweaking" option that’s easy, free and low risk (assuming you turn off power before switching speaker leads) but has the potential to provide some real improvement to a system’s sound.