Just to clarify, did you apply the battery voltage through the crossover, or did you apply it directly to the woofer terminals?

Both situations can provide useful information. If it was applied just to the woofer terminals, it means the driver is likely good, as Chris stated. If you applied it through the crossover, it can eliminate some (but not all) problems with it.

It's safe to apply the voltage of a small AA battery to a tweeter. I've use the battery test on completed 3-way speakers - mostly to determine if I've wired the left side out of phase with the right.

In your case, I suspect that applying it to the whole speaker - including crossover - and if the woofer thumps, and the tweeter ticks, then you have an amp problem instead of a solder bridge short circuit. The nice thing is that you don't even have to disassemble a speaker to try it.

Did you inspect the circuit boards for bridged solder pads? It should be easy to spot if you have one.

BTW, I have built 4 pairs of BR-1 speakers for our classrooms. I don't know if it's still part of the kit, but if you use the putty gasket material to seal the woofers to the box, you will not get your woofers back out! I used the putty on one pair, then went to the hardware store to get some thin weatherstripping for the remaining speakers so that I could repair them later if needed.

Quote Originally Posted by krieram View Post
so i just tried the AA battery test (without any resoldering) and got a thump out of the woofer. what does this mean? should i do this test on the tweeter as well or will that harm it?