Phase switch on pre amp use?

The polarity is switched internally in the preamp. Some amplifier circuits invert the polarity 180 degrees while others do not invert. In an "op-amp", which is an IC chip used in some electronics - it has both an inverting and non-inverting input. There may be a slight improvement in sound by switching the phase. Try a listen both ways.

Another analogy of phase is your speakers. If the left and right speakers are hooked up out of phase, this will make a big difference in the sound. BUT on you preamp phase switch you are inverting BOTH channels at once - like if you switched Positive and negative on BOTH speakers.

It inverts the polarity of the signal output to your amp 180 degrees. So anything that follows would be out of phase from the original source. My cdp has a phase switch and I can't say it makes a difference although I've never listened critically for it. It certainly won't hurt anything. Why do you think they would put a switch that would cause harm so readily accessible?

I just bought a preamp (Aesthetix Calypso) in large part because it has such a switch and I was tired of switching speaker cables to change the polarity. You won't hear much if any difference unless your speakers are polarity-coherent (many aren't) and have no or very minimal crossovers. Even then, many discs were recorded in mixed polarity and defy anyone to hear a difference.

Bottom line: As Kal says, don't sweat it. But once you do begin to recognize polarity differences, you can't NOT hear them. Or I can't anyway. Best to leave well enough alone. Good luck, Dave

Thanks for the notes. Electricity has a mind of it's own and sometimes can be confusing. It struck me as odd that one can swap directions of the juice in an instant without causing some electrical grief. "Safety first" as my dad used to say.
-John

You will find that many high end preamps in particular will indicate that the preamp out is inverted phase. (And they do not have a switch to change it). This is due to circuit design philosophy, allowing a simpler circuit (read purer) in their opinion, by not needing addition circuitry to bring the phase back to noninverting.