preamp inverts polarity

geoffkait

Cleedsy, old bean, a vacuum is created by evacuating air from the system not by compressing it.

Quite so. That's what I wrote:

You can decompress air it until it's a vacuum ...

Decompress is not the same as evacuate. There can be no vacuum without an enclosure. There can be compression and decompression in a room obviously, for acoustic waves, but not a vacuum. In space no one can hear you scream.

Costco, when speakers are “out of phase” I.e., the + - wires are reversed on both speakers, the system is in the Reverse Absolute Polarity from whatever state it was in previously. Polarity is relative. That’s kind of the whole point. And in that sense, as on the test track on the XLO Test CD, “out of phase” is equivalent to Absolute Polarity.

I suspect this is just a simple case of you following the wrong ...you know...🐑 🐑 🐑

kosst_amojan

The transmission characteristics of air certainly don’t resemble electrically balanced operation.

That doesn’t mean that air is a "single-ended medium," as you’ve claimed. Air is also not a fig newton. That doesn’t mean air is a lemon meringue pie.

@ kosst_amojan - of course you’re correct (definitions of polarity vs. phase). By the time I noticed the typo, the 30 minute edit window had expired. It never pays to post before going to bed ;-)

@ geoffkait absolutely (with respect to how media is recorded). This might be the biggest factor as to why so many folks don’t "hear" polarity reversals.  They doubt their perception - as much because of inconsistencies in recordings as any other factor.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier