Question about inverting polarity

Does not matter either way. I do it at the amp end for convenience when I demo other equipment.

My phono stage is also inverted. I switch it at the cartridge with preamps that are not inverted.

This could drive you nuts. The inverted phono stage is in phase with an inverted preamp.

I hope this is not a tangent, but my Marantz SA-1 SACD player inverts polarity through its balanced outputs, which I've been using (inverted) for 1 1/2 years. Since I was recently alerted by another thread about this player, I have been reversing polarity via a switch on my BAT preamp (can switch it back and forth via the remote) and do not LIKE the sound w/the corrected polarity! It sounds "brighter" to me, less rounded and tubey, which I consider the strengths of this system. So I'd like to know what you think if you listen to your preamp both ways. Why do manufacturers even build equipment that reverses the polarity and just causes all this angst?? Why can't they wire it right to begin with?
consider me,
Confused

Sarah; Reversing polarity is not necessarily the same as being out of phase. You may be reversing polarity of the AC power, much like reversing the AC plug. This is not changing the phase of the output to the amp. I am not familiar with BAT preamps to know if that switch reverses the phase to the amplifier or just the AC polarity. You should consult with BAT on that (check the manual). Reversing the AC polarity to the wrong polarity will usually make it brighter as you describe.

Preamp makers make their preamps out of phase (going out the amp outputs) usually because less is more. Their designs are simple and clean (and out of phase), and would require an additional gain stage to bring them back in phase. The addition of another gain stage would degrade the signal.

Conrad Johnson preamps are out of phase. You could call them or drop by on your way around the beltway and have them explain it better than I can. They are behind the Home Depot at Route 50 and Route 29 in Fairfax.

Sometimes CDs are recorded with the polarity reversed (by mistake), but reversing wires won't help. It needs to be corrected at the DAC. Some CD players have a switch on the remote to reverse the polarity for these CDs.