Danger if testing speaker with defective passive crossover?

[Maculosa]

Hi,

I'm new and i need advice from audio/electronics experts.

I have a set of 80' high end Ribbon Speakers. (Apogee Acoustics)
They are in very good condition but they are not being used for at least 20 years.

I would like to test them if they are still working. (they will be hooked on a Krell Ksa200 amplifier)
Those speakers both use a passive crossover box, i'm wondering if the crossover are defective, can they damage the speakers or there is no risk of damaging the speakers?

Thanks and sorry for my english.

 

[Dennis Murphy]

Do you have any reason to think the crossovers are defective? The only danger would be if the series capacitors in the tweeter circuit were for some reason passing a full frequency signal to the tweeter. I don't know how that would happen--it's more likely that they would be completely open and not pass any signal if something had gone wrong. I think it's OK to hook one of the speakers up and start at very low volume. If the tweeter ribbon sounds distorted close up, I would shut down. Otherwise, you can gradually increase the volume and listen carefully.

 

[Maculosa]

Thank you very much for the answer.
I have no real reason to think they are defective except they have been stored for over 20 years.
(but well stored, same for the Divas.)
I just want to be sure there is no danger or if i should take any precaution.
There is good chance the speakers will be for sale if they are still working fine.
I want to be carefull.