How to test your speakers
- Turn your volume down, then click Left, Both or Right. A short three-note chime plays from that side only.
- Press Play a sweep to hear a tone rise from 20 Hz to 20 kHz over 10 seconds, or Bass check (40 Hz) to test low notes. Stop or the space bar ends a sound early.
- Press Phase check to hear whether your two speakers are wired the same way round.
What each test checks
| Test | What it plays | What to listen for |
|---|---|---|
| Left, Both, Right | A rising three-note chime from one side, or the middle | Sound only from the side you clicked; Both should seem to come from between the speakers |
| Sweep | A tone gliding from 20 Hz to 20 kHz over 10 seconds | A smooth rise with no crackles, buzzing or sudden drops |
| Bass check | 40 Hz for 4 seconds | A clean hum, no rattles |
| Phase check | 220 Hz with one side inverted | A hollow, spread-out sound, not a solid centred one |
The sweep rises at an even musical pace, so each octave takes about a second. If the sound gets much louder or quieter at one point on the way up, that’s the speaker’s own character, or a resonance in the room or the desk it sits on.
Speakers wired out of phase
Each speaker has a positive and a negative terminal, usually marked red and black or + and −. If the wires go to the right terminals on one speaker but are swapped on the other, the two cones move in opposite directions. Your music still plays, but it sounds thin, the bass is weak and voices lose their solid spot in the middle.
The phase check uses this on purpose: it sends the same tone to both sides with one side flipped. Correctly wired speakers turn that into a strange, hollow sound. Speakers with one side wired backwards flip it back, so it sounds normal. If that happens, turn everything off and swap the two wires on one speaker, at the speaker or at the amplifier, then test again.