Power sequencing brings an AV rack up in the right order and takes it down in reverse — so the speakers never thump, the breaker never trips, and the person in the booth only has to press one button.
Why it matters
A rack that is switched on all at once works — until the day it does not. Three things go wrong, and all three are fixed by the same small box.
When the amplifiers wake up before the console and processors have settled, whatever noise those make on the way up goes straight to the speakers. Every Sunday, at full volume.
A rack full of gear switched on in the same instant pulls its startup current all together. Staggering it is the difference between a quiet morning and a dark booth.
The right sequence lives in one person’s head, and they are not here this week. One button in the booth, or one in a browser, does it the same way no matter who is there.
How a sequence runs
Every rack is different, so the steps and the timing between them are set for the gear that is actually in it. The rule underneath never changes.
Plan my rackThe switch, the gateway and anything the rest of the system talks to, so it is ready before anything asks for it.
Mixers, playback and wireless receivers — everything that makes signal, given time to boot and settle.
Speaker processing and anything between the console and the amplifiers, before the amplifiers are allowed on.
Only once everything upstream is quiet. At shutdown the whole order runs backwards, amplifiers off first.
What goes in the rack
Mounted with the equipment it powers, wired to the network, and set up so it runs the same way every time, whoever presses the button.
The sequencing lives in the rack with the gear it powers, not in a power strip behind a desk.
Power the system up or down from the booth, the office or a phone on the network — and see what is on.
The steps, and the pause between each one, are set for what is actually plugged in, not copied from another job.
If the network is down, the switches on the front of the controller in the rack still work, right there at the rack.
Common questions
Usually the person who has learned to turn the amplifiers on last by hand, and would like the rack to remember it for them.
A power sequencer switches the outlets in an AV rack on one at a time, in a set order with a pause between each step, and switches them off in the reverse order. The point is that the amplifiers are always the last thing to come on and the first thing to go off, so nothing upstream of them can send a thump through the speakers while it boots or shuts down.
Usually because the amplifiers are already on while the console, the processors or the wireless receivers are still powering up. Whatever noise those make on the way up goes straight to the amplifiers, and the amplifiers send it to the speakers at full volume. Bringing the amplifiers up last, after everything upstream has settled, is what stops it.
In most cases, yes. It does not mean replacing the equipment, only changing what the equipment is plugged into. We look at what is in the rack, which circuits feed it and how much each step needs to draw, then set the order and the timing for the gear that is actually there.
No. The order lives in the power controller in the rack. A button in the booth or a page in a browser only tells it to start. If the network is down, the switches on the front of the controller still work, right there at the rack.
It depends on how many racks there are, how many steps each one needs and which circuits feed them, so we do not put a number on it before seeing the room. The free assessment comes first, and a written quote follows it.
Part of a bigger system
No cost, no obligation
We open the rack, trace what powers what, and tell you plainly what order it should come up in and what it would take to make that one button.
Typical response — same business day
