Power on/power off. Sounds simple enough right? Truth is, you’d be surprised at the number of times engineers slip up and short-circuit equipment. So what causes those annoying pops and clicks? Well when gear is switched on, an electrical charge pulses through incredibly quickly (called a spike). If the speakers are accidentally left on, that spike going to be amplified and you’re going to get a loud THWACK to the face (possibly from the .