I had a similar experience with one of a pair Totem Acoustic speakers. They were shipped by the dealer in their factory boxes. One speaker arrived a day later than the other and when I looked at the second speaker box I suspected there would be a problem, as one corner of the box was damaged. I opened the second box and after unpacking found the bass driver had a large, readily visible hole in it. I had to ship the speaker directly to the manufacturer for repair. Totem advised that the crossover assembly had become detached and came through the back of the bass driver! Totem suspected that the box had to have been dropped from a considerable height (like off the back of a truck 5-6' or so). The dealer, who shipped the product to me, covered the repair (replacement of bass driver and crossover) and was unable to recover anything from FEDEX even though the shipment was insured, I provided photos of the damaged box and driver, and the damage was not due to improper or non-factory packaging.
Look for any holes, deformation or cracks in the driver cones of the mid- or bass- drivers. Also, if the speaker is not too heavy to slide along a carpeted floor, listen to see if you can hear anything moving inside the cabinet as you move the speaker. Obviously, you should not hear anything. And you need not move the cabinet very strongly to hear something, if anything is loose. Those are my suggestions for identifying potential damage in addition to what @millercarbon explained.
Totem did a great job with the damaged speaker. They match drivers when they make a pair, have records of the drivers used and had a replacement driver and crossover on hand to install. I have listened to the speakers for around a thousand hours and am quite pleased with them, noticing no difference in the reproduction quality of the two speakers. Obviously if you can get the dealer to provide a new pair instead, that would be a great alternative.
Look for any holes, deformation or cracks in the driver cones of the mid- or bass- drivers. Also, if the speaker is not too heavy to slide along a carpeted floor, listen to see if you can hear anything moving inside the cabinet as you move the speaker. Obviously, you should not hear anything. And you need not move the cabinet very strongly to hear something, if anything is loose. Those are my suggestions for identifying potential damage in addition to what @millercarbon explained.
Totem did a great job with the damaged speaker. They match drivers when they make a pair, have records of the drivers used and had a replacement driver and crossover on hand to install. I have listened to the speakers for around a thousand hours and am quite pleased with them, noticing no difference in the reproduction quality of the two speakers. Obviously if you can get the dealer to provide a new pair instead, that would be a great alternative.