I bought a new pair of 8" monitors. They sound great and overall, I am very happy with them. When I power them down, at the very end of the power fading out, there is a relatively soft “PFFT” and the speaker cone moves about 1/8" to (just a small pop). This small pop is not loud or alarming but it is certainly audible. This occurs with no input plugged in and is independent of the volume set on the monitor itself and also happens whether I use the power switch on the monitor or switch off the conditioned power supply they are connected to.
I called technical support and they said it is normal for the amplifier, in its last “dying breath” to have a soft “pop”.
I am purposely leaving out the brand and model of monitor here…
Is it somewhat common or normal for monitors to do this when power is removed?
I am just curious if your monitors do this…
It’s normal
Word of advice though, always power up and down using the monitors own switch, leaving them on and using a switcheable powerbar or similar could result in much louder pops and could damage the speakers. There are exceptions (see the manufacturers advice), but as a general rule it’s safer…
I have M-Audio BX5a’s as my living room TV/music speakers and they too have a short “PFFT” when I turn them off. My Genelecs create an audible “SNAP/CLICK” instead, which is “more” worrying in my opinion.
All amplifiers create some kind of strange noise when powering down, unless they have some very smart protection circuit inside them.
My Alesis monitors are actually completely quiet when powering down, but my Hartke Bass amp gives a rather loud ‘oomph’ 3 seconds after flicking the power switch.
Interesting. I also have a pair of BX5 (Deluxe 2, I think…) which have been perfectly quiet shutting down for the several years I have had them. This is one reason why I was a little concerned. Because I figured the design was similar enough that they would “behave” the same.
Would like a second opinion on this… I have been using a conditioned power supply for the BX5s for years with no problems. Also, the documentation says nothing about it. It is just much easier to use the switch on the rack than the backs of the monitors. I originally started doing this because the audio interface, during start up, goes through a couple of power cycles and/or BITs and would cause pops (rather loud ones). So, I wait until the start up is complete and then turn on the power to the speakers and turn it off before shutting down.
