can I fix my speakers by switching black and red connections?

It sounds like maybe his speaker cables weren't connected very well and he inadvertently fixed it. I don't think it had anything to do with the phase. Your problem also does not sound like a phase problem... things that are having phase problems don't just sound less than great, they sound totally weird. If you're not sure what's + and - on your outputs/inputs you can check to see which sounds better, but assuming everything on your gear is labeled, and labeled correctly, you want it the way it is... the same color should be on + for each speaker and likewise for -.

One thing that's helped me troubleshoot before was listening up close to each part of the speaker (ie. each cone, the tweeter, etc) and comparing the two. Often times I'll find that on one of the speakers the mids are a lot lower, and sure enough will find a loosely connected speaker cable on that speaker!

That is indeed weird. It's good you gave that background... if the sound changed a lot and your room hasn't then it does sound like something is wrong with the hardware. Did you check all the connections yet? If not maybe switch everything off, including the power, reconnect all the cables (just to be sure they are connected well) and turn it back on.

What is the system?

I just realized I never answered your question, but basically you if you have 2 wires running into each speaker you would just disconnect them and reconnect them in the reverse of how they were connected before. IF you do it to both speakers they should maintain their phase. If you do it to just one they will be out of phase. I don't think it'll do any harm but I've never tried. All it should do is reverse when the speaker magnet is pushing and when it's pulling.

It sounds a bit like oxidized connectors that get cleaned a bit by reattaching them.

I don't know if they warp, but tubes certainly can and do go bad and need to be replaced now and then.

Preamp tubes last a long time. Power tubes need to be replaced more often but in hi-fi I think that still means 2 years or more. Guitar amp power tubes need to be swapped about every 2 years and those are pushed a lot harder. Replacement tubes cost around $30-$50 usually but it can vary. What can be a mess is that sometimes the tubes have different values than the last ones and you will need to bias the amp. This is a subjective matter and again, different manufacturers handle it differently.

If you haven't been letting them warm up as recommended by manufacturer that will shorten the life of the tubes for sure.

The speaker wiring was a little lose or corroded and removing and replacing the cables broke through the corrosion layers and cleaned up the sound.

Trust me, I wouldn't buy a HTIB on a bet. The speakers have a very bad reputation and the electronics range from dodgy to unusable.

You need a good component system, which may not cost you more than what you paid for this.

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-HT-E6730W-Channel-1330-Watt-Blu-Ray/dp/B007581VWG/ref=sr_1_1

I took a look the user manual, and even the AVR part of this lash-up is nonstandard:

http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/UM/201204/20120409222443784/02472E_E6750W_SJ_01_0403.pdf

page 12.



Note the nonstandard speaker terminals.

I don't know how prices line up in your country but my one-size fits all system in this price range would be:

Whatever AVR Onkyo or Denon is selling for under $350

Infinity Primus 163 or 363 as you can afford. P251 or 351 center channel if required.

Polk PSW 505 subwoofer

Samsung, Panasonic, Yamaha, or Pioneer Blu Ray player in the ca. $100 range.