Primare Polarity Pen

The Primare Polarity Pen is an essential, purpose-built tool designed to help you extract the absolute maximum performance from your audio components. While simple in appearance, this specialized phase checker allows you to quickly and safely verify the correct AC polarity of your power cables. Correct mains orientation is a critical, often overlooked factor in high-fidelity audio; getting it right lowers the noise floor, improves dynamics, and enhances the overall clarity of your system. Included with Primare's latest electronics, this indispensable accessory is now available separately for any audiophile looking to fine-tune their setup.

Key Features:

• Instant Polarity Verification: Safely detects the "live" phase of AC power cables without physical contact or complex metering.
• Non-Contact Operation: Designed to read through the insulation of the power cord connector, ensuring safety and ease of use.
• Essential for High-End Performance: Ensures your components are grounded correctly relative to the mains, reducing hum and noise.
• Simple Visual Indicator: The tip lights up instantly when it detects the correct phase (live) conductor, providing immediate feedback.
• Universal Application: While designed for Primare, it works with any IEC power cable and audio component to optimize AC orientation.

Why Polarity Matters

In many countries, AC plugs are reversible (non-polarized), meaning it's easy to plug a component in "backwards." Even with polarized plugs (like in the US or UK), wall wiring can sometimes be reversed. When an audio component is plugged in with incorrect polarity, the chassis potential can rise, leading to increased noise, hum, and a "grainy" sound that obscures fine detail. Correcting this by ensuring the "live" wire connects to the correct pin on the transformer lowers the noise floor and allows the music to emerge from a blacker background.

How to Use It

Using the Polarity Pen is incredibly simple. With your component plugged in and turned on:

1. Touch the tip of the pen to the outside of the IEC connector where the power cord enters the unit.
2. Test both the left and right sides of the cable connector.
3. The tip will light up when near the "live" wire.
4. By identifying which side is live, you can ensure it matches the manufacturer's specified "hot" pin for that component (often marked on the chassis or in the manual). If it doesn't match, simply rotate the plug at the wall (if applicable) or correct the wiring.

A Small Tool for Big Improvements

This is one of the most cost-effective upgrades you can make. By taking a few minutes to check the phase of every component in your rack—amplifiers, sources, and streamers—you ensure that your entire system shares a common ground potential. The cumulative effect is often a startling improvement in focus, soundstage depth, and the natural decay of instruments, all achieved simply by ensuring your power is flowing the right way.

The Listening Room Difference

We’re a third-generation family business with a brick-and-mortar showroom in Chestertown, Maryland, and a reputation built on trust, not hype. Whether you’re visiting in person or ordering online, we bring decades of experience, personalized service, and honest guidance to every interaction. We don’t just ship boxes. We help build systems, answer your questions like real humans, and make sure every detail of your setup is right, from the cables to the final connection. Our passion is helping you get the most out of your gear, with support that lasts well beyond the sale.

Specifications