While there are times
when you want to inten-
tionally wire speakers out
of phase, they are few
and far between in model
railroading. So, I’m going
to discuss how to have
the speakers be in phase –
meaning that all the cones
go in the same direction
at the same time, effec-
tively doubling the size of
the speaker.
If you have any ques-
tions, try an experiment.
Hook two speakers up in
phase and listen. Reverse
the leads to one speaker
(making them out of
phase) and listen. You will
probably hear a reduc-
tion in the low frequency (bass) reproduction and a loss of
directionality of the midrange and high frequency sound. The
sound will frequently appear to be in a large ball surrounding
the locomotive, as compared to a point source between the
speakers.
Over the years, I’ve only had one installation where I intention-
ally wired the speakers out of phase and it was for two switch-
ers separated by a flat car with a speaker in each loco. The “ball
6: A speaker with a polarity
mark (red dot in the drawing).
The speaker probably will come
with one. If not, you may add
your own.
6
