>Finally, the phase reversal of the speaker has a great effect
>as to where your ear thinks the sound is coming from and
>whether the speaker fires to the front or to the rear.Talking about the phase of a single speaker is like asking what the phase of a sine wave is. It is a meaningless question UNLESS there is some reference, another waveform, to compare it too. Even with a stroboscope you cannot detrermine the difference in performance of a single speaker when you switch the leads because there is none.
Look at the physics. Apply a periodic waveform to the voice coil. Once the ear's transient response has decayed you are left with the steadystate response. Move your head a half wavelength and that's the same as reversing the speaker leads. You won't hear any difference.
Greg Knox