Monitors and subwoofer plugged into surge protector... power on/off frequently?

I would say that in general practice ... the process is to turn speakers on last and to cut them off first.  The logic behind that is related to the possibility that some equipment sends out turn on/off transient signals that could negatively affect output devices (speakers). 

There's usually no difference between the on/off switch on surge protectors and the on/off switch by the wall socket.
 
Frequent on/off switching can shorten the life of electronic components as each time they're switched on or off they undergo a heat cycle (while running they are warm, when switched off they drop to room temperature). Repeated heat cycles can degrade components over time, and the more cycles in a given time, the more potential for degration.
 
In the real world, I wouldn't have thought that would be too much of a problem for powered speakers though. On the other hand, if we're talking about a couple of dozen on/offs a day here...
 
It would be sensible to make sure they're turned down before switching on or off in any case - the thump as power switches on/off can easily damage speakers.

I understand.  And excuse me if I wasn't very clear. I think that I was really speaking to what the previous poster mentioned relating to turning the speakers down and then off.  The on/off transients can come not only as power spikes but as dangerous very low or very high frequencies that could affect speakers. As stated before, it is a good practice to turn down the volume and then turn off by whatever means.  The frequency by which you turn devices on and off can have an effect also.  Many components such as switches, relays, couplings ect.. are rated by the number of times they are acutated. 

It doesn't matter that you turn them on and off. there are arguments on both sides of that.... I prefer to shut them off when I don;t need them.

Using the switch on the monitor or the surge bar  really doesn't matter. Just understand that every switch has a limited number of operations...at some point it will break. 

  Always run them on a surge bar and  if you can a UPS is a nice thing to have in the studio....especially on the DAW. 

Guitarhacker


It doesn't matter that you turn them on and off. there are arguments on both sides of that.... I prefer to shut them off when I don;t need them.

Using the switch on the monitor or the surge bar  really doesn't matter. Just understand that every switch has a limited number of operations...at some point it will break. 

Always run them on a surge bar and  if you can a UPS is a nice thing to have in the studio....especially on the DAW. 

What's a UPS?

LunaTech


I think it is safe to say that of all speakers.  "Studio Monitor" designation generally refers to a speakers that have a more "flat" frequency response where as other speaker "types" may accentuate certain frequency ranges. 

That's what I thought. I was wondering that, in order to create the more "flat" frequency response, perhaps they using different parts that may be more sensitive or something. Anyways thanks for your input 

What's a UPS?

 
An Uninterruptable Power Supply.
 
Basically a bank of rechargable batteries plus electronic switching (usually includes surge suppression and often mains filtering as well) that sits between the mains supply and PC/monitor.
 
The idea is that if the mains fails the batteries can supply enough power to give you time - so long as you act quickly enough - to save what you're doing and shut the computer down properly. Most  come with software that monitors the mains and can be set to trigger an automatic PC shutdown/switch to hibernation (RAM copied ot hard drive then shut-down) if the mains fails as well (but an automated shutdown won't save your work.
 
I've had one (an old Belkin model) for years - we get zero-warning  power cuts two or three times a year, and "glitches" like someone's thrown a big switch back at the distribution transformer station quite often. And this is in an industrial inner-city in the UK...
 
A few years ago the mains went on/off about 5 times in under a second, which killed the PC motherboard and psu.
 
Hence the investment in a UPS.
 
You do need a pretty hefty one though - modern PCs drain the batteries very quickly.