Do those of you who have them leave them powered on all the time?
No. Not only is it unconscionable to do that these days but these speakers don't really have a standby either, at best a wake on lan function, and would consume more power than leading all the lights on my house on.
I have a remote controlled power board.
Speakers take about 35 seconds to boot up and produce sound.
Regarding the wood, early models had issues with cracking. Apparently the design changes slightly to resolve it. Not sure of further details, but were a few reported problems on their Facebook group early in the release of the product.
Had a chance to visit the factory myself. Spoke to Kevin about my reservations of spending 12000eur on active speakers. He showed me how easy it is to slot the board out, mentioned the company is a big believer in right to repair and also has negotiated part supplies so apparently spares will be available for some time up come and even if not the design seems easy enough to replace with alternative components.