Looking after monitors

[bendeho]

Hi guys,

After 6 months of researching, testing in stores and deciding i'd rather buy once and buy right, i bought a pair of Dynaudio BM6A's last week. Now, as expected they're working great and i'm very happy with them, but i'm not really sure about how to care for the things.

I listen to a lot of music on my pc (which i also use for recording/mixing) and often will leave it playing on while doing other things around the house. Personally, it doesn't really matter to me whether I do this non-mixing listening on my old hifi speakers or my monitors, but I'd rather not 'waste' my monitors' lifespan if i can help it, since i've just invested a fair but of cash in them.

I can probably get a cable switch to go between my hifi and monitors (out of my audio interface) so i can swap between them fairly easily but i imagine that this is adding slight noise to my chain that i'd be better off without. Also the idea of having to switch speakers all the time seems a little irritating.

Also, my monitors have an on/off switch at the back of each, should I essentially have them off whenever they're unattended for a half hour lunch break, or is the repetitive on/off more damaging? Is the speaker life being shortened by being on even with no signal passing through? Is the signal life shortening I'm talking about even worth thinking about?

I guess what I'm asking is how careful do I have to be with these things. I imagine they have quality componentry and so forth, I'd just hate to waste the things on casual listening and leaving them on from time to time.

Thanks in advance for any advice guys!

 

[CoolCat]

Also, my monitors have an on/off switch at the back of each, is the repetitive on/off more damaging?
Is the speaker life being shortened by being on even with no signal passing through? Is the signal life shortening I'm talking about even worth thinking about?
QUOTE]

I was told once by a sound eng. how he always used a external powerswitch On/Off instead of the units switch.

He asked me "which is easier to replace, a $5 ac multi-strip or the unique on/off switch on the DynAudio BM6A's?

A quality unit, like the Dyn BM6A's should be able to take alot within reason.
Quality= Great Design and Great Materials.

DYNBM6A..i'll bet thats a treat for the ears.

 

[jeffree]

QUOTE]I was told once by a sound eng. how he always used a external powerswitch On/Off instead of the units switch[/QUOTE]

I do the same, Bendaho, with a power strip that allows me to turn on my monitors (and sub) with just one switch. Probably more important is to remember the order of switching on/off to avoid possible speaker damage: turn on monitors last in the sequence and turn them off first.

Congrats on your wise choice of monitors.

J.

 

[easychair]

QUOTE]Probably more important is to remember the order of switching on/off to avoid possible speaker damage: turn on monitors last in the sequence and turn them off first.


J.

That is about the most important thing you can do. I use a power strip so I don't have to reach behind them to power them up or down. Some flowers and holiday once in awhile besides that, and they should be fine.

 

[xstatic]

Cetainly a power strip is much cheaper to replace which is one reason it may be a better idea to use the switches on the backs of the monitors themselves. The switches on powered monitors may have ramp up and down times concerning the amps and such which would reduce the amount of wear and tear on the drivers than a purely instantaneous power cycling. Just something to think about

 

[easychair]

Cetainly a power strip is much cheaper to replace which is one reason it may be a better idea to use the switches on the backs of the monitors themselves. The switches on powered monitors may have ramp up and down times concerning the amps and such which would reduce the amount of wear and tear on the drivers than a purely instantaneous power cycling. Just something to think about

That kind of circuit would seem to be separate from the power switch, if it were in there. Amps that do that sort of thing usually mute their outputs for a second or two on power-up, rather than ramping.

The whole idea of worrying about a power switch seems a bit silly to me, actually, or at least last in the list of reasons to use a power strip. It makes me wonder if the guy leaves all his lights on, and has a breaker in each room of his house to save wear and tear on his light switches.

 

[xstatic]

Easychair, I agree with your statement to a certain extent. My point was that when you use the switch provided by the manufacturer it may trigger some small chain of events that we normally take for granted. By just cutting the AC power that small overlooked chain of events may not happen whether it be on power up or power down. I would be willing to bet that if a power switch failed on a reputable set of monitors that the manufacturer may actually send out a replacement for free. Of course there is sopme sort of turnaround time that way

 

[CoolCat]

yeah, i get what your saying about the "circuit"...
DLP and LCD projectors use such a circuit for the arc bulbs, "soft power down" or up to strike/vaporize the mercury and vice versa, let it fully cool before turning it on again...delay.

and my Onkyo HiFi has some Muted pause thing too...

anyway, i would think if you can afford BM6A's...
you can swing for a decent surge/noise supression, conditioner-> quality power strip and secondary on/off. i was readiong on these..there's many levels of quality.

as far as just taking care of them.... cover them, offer clean ac power, use good cables..... and don't connect and disconnect ...blah,blah,blah....