Speaker harness positive/negative hookup

[Arealhuman]

So I I'm switching out the dash speakers on my bronco. I have the speakers and I found two different sets of adapter harnesses to plug and play the speakers. I ordered both of them just two make sure I got a quality one and what I've noticed is that the negative and positive wires on them are switched.

Is there a correct setup on which wire is which. Or are they interchangeable.

I've attached a picture of both of them, thanks

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[Bschurr]

So I I'm switching out the dash speakers on my bronco. I have the speakers and I found two different sets of adapter harnesses to plug and play the speakers. I ordered both of them just two make sure I got a quality one and what I've noticed is that the negative and positive wires on them are switched.

Is there a correct setup on which wire is which. Or are they interchangeable.

I've attached a picture of both of them, thanks

As long as you confirm that the other end of the pigtail is correctly connected to the appropriate + and - terminals you will be OK and your audio will remain in phase.
Here’s the wiring diagram for your confirmation

 

[Arealhuman]

As long as you confirm that the other end of the pigtail is correctly connected to the appropriate + and - terminals you will be OK and your audio will remain in phase.
Here’s the wiring diagram for your confirmation

Got it maybe this is above my head and I should just go to a shop. They quoted me $500 to swap out five speakers though. Was just really wondering which wire on the harness is positive and which one is negative since it appears to only plug in one way.

 

[RagnarKon]

This will help:

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/how-to-factory-bronco-speaker-replacement.68888/

Specifically.. watch the section about making the harness around the 20 minute mark. Should answer your question and more.

To answer your question more directly... it doesn't really matter which is positive and which is negative, but if you hook it up backwards your speakers will be out of phase and you'll get goofy noise canceling issues. But you can reference the adapters I have to see which of your adapters is correct, and then adjust as necessary.

 

[Sandbergo]

Well your white should be positive and black negative. If you aren’t sure plug it in and take a 9volt battery and put the white to positive and black to negative on the battery, it is correct the speaker will flex outward if it’s backwards it will flex the speaker inward. Something we used to do at the shop I worked at back in the day. Obviously you would test it in the speaker not connected to the vehicle.

 

[indio22]

As long as you confirm that the other end of the pigtail is correctly connected to the appropriate + and - terminals you will be OK and your audio will remain in phase.
Here’s the wiring diagram for your confirmation

The above wiring diagram indicates for the right front speakers, the yellow wire coming from the radio to the kick panel speaker is positive. But is the yellow wire coming from the kick panel speaker to dash speaker also positive?

And does the wiring diagram apply to all model year Broncos?

 

[Bschurr]

The above wiring diagram indicates for the right front speakers, the yellow wire coming from the radio to the kick panel speaker is positive. But is the yellow wire coming from the kick panel speaker to dash speaker also positive?

And does the wiring diagram apply to all model year Broncos?

@indio22 If you look at the bottom right corner of the wiring diagram, you will see that the wires from the kick panel go to the instrument (dash) speakers - so in plain language, YES the 2 wires are consistent for each side including polarity.

I am not sure of this diagram applies to all models but this is the wire diagram for my 2021 Badlands - I suspect it’s still valid. Regardless, if you can identify the polarity of the wires in either pair of speakers, it’s consistent from kick panel to dash.

 

[indio22]

@indio22 If you look at the bottom right corner of the wiring diagram, you will see that the wires from the kick panel go to the instrument (dash) speakers - so in plain language, YES the 2 wires are consistent for each side including polarity.

I am not sure of this diagram applies to all models but this is the wire diagram for my 2021 Badlands - I suspect it’s still valid. Regardless, if you can identify the polarity of the wires in either pair of speakers, it’s consistent from kick panel to dash.

I connected a multimeter (set to measure voltage) to the yellow and purple wires that connect to the passenger dash speaker (with speaker disconnected). Based on the multimeter showing negative/positive numbers, this test indicated the yellow wire is positive, and the purple wire is negative.

That means the Metra adapter I bought is reversed, connecting the new speak in reverse polarity. (Unless something is wrong with my cheap multimeter.)

As a sanity check, I'm going to make a jumper wire that allows me to switch the speaker polarity, so using my ear I can compare sound quality.

 

[Brian_B]

I connected a multimeter (set to measure voltage) to the yellow and purple wires that connect to the passenger dash speaker (with speaker disconnected). Based on the multimeter showing negative/positive numbers, this test indicated the yellow wire is positive, and the purple wire is negative.

That means the Metra adapter I bought is reversed, connecting the new speak in reverse polarity. (Unless something is wrong with my cheap multimeter.)

As a sanity check, I'm going to make a jumper wire that allows me to switch the speaker polarity, so using my ear I can compare sound quality.

Makes me want to go check mine out

 

[indio22]

Makes me want to go check mine out

It's thrown a curve with my new dash speaker install. People in other forum threads have said the passenger dash positive wire is purple (violet/gray). But that's not what my multi-meter is telling me. It's a cheap old multi-meter though, I might get a new meter and do some more testing.

The reason I was re-checking the polarity is my new speaker sounded weak in terms of mids compared to the crummy stock speaker. And sometimes that occurs when the polarity is reversed, with mids getting cancelled due to being out of phase with the kick panel speaker.

 

[Brian_B]

Can confirm my Metra adapters were also wired Black to positive, White to negative. But I seem to recall seeing a warning about this and I had wired my speakers to the adapter accordingly.

That matches to Yellow on the left and Gray on the right for the stock harness for positive

 

[CarGuy]

Odd, I was told the opposite by Crutchfield - small black connector was negative and larger white positive.

 

[indio22]

Odd, I was told the opposite by Crutchfield - small black connector was negative and larger white positive.

Yes it should be that way, and in fact that's how the adapter connects to my speaker, given the terminal sizes.

I'm just having a bit of an issue with the adapter linking white to purple wire, and black to yellow wire ... and my multimeter telling me it should be the other way.

Maybe I'm making a mistake, will run some more tests this week.

 

[Brian_B]

Yes it should be that way, and in fact that's how the adapter connects to my speaker, given the terminal sizes.

I'm just having a bit of an issue with the adapter linking white to purple wire, and black to yellow wire ... and my multimeter telling me it should be the other way.

Maybe I'm making a mistake, will run some more tests this week.

I think you are correct and the Bronco wiring on the adapter is backwards from a normal Ford.

 

[DemonGT]

Is it only backwards in the front? Or is the rear backwards as well?

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