Amplifier ageing and servicing

[IWC Dopplel]

I know not many have equipment that is older than 10 years, but amazing how quickly that happens....

I recently had 4 of my power amps, one power supply and a pre-amp serviced. Looking at my records these were last serviced in the early 2000's, all the others were serviced within the last 5 years. All caps that age were replaced anything that measured out of spec and all the items that lose some sound quality with age.

They are still burning in, this does happen with caps and resistors, noticeable if you have a resolving system. Well worth doing as the 2 channel has improved even after just 3 days its sounding better than it ever has at home. The projection and dynamics of my Extremas are as good as they have ever been and I think I'm falling in love with them again. Anyone who thinks old equipment is passed it hasn't experienced the disappointment with newer cheaper built designs or considered keeping some wonderfully designed amplifiers serviced.

Dont forget 40 years ago HiFi was all about sound quality, that moved into spec and functionality and we have been listening to a lot of compressed junk in the majority of cases. No wonder my old amps are worth over twice what I paid for them today...

 

[MickB]

That's interesting info, & something I've been thinking about recently. My Cinepro power amp has been in my system for over 20 years now, so is a prime candidate for a service.

Just curious, who did you use to get your stuff done?

 

[IWC Dopplel]

I use a chap in Stoke, which is a naim specialist. I can and do swap electrical components, usually to upgrade cheap poor sounding ones. But naim have done their homework and I cant buy gen parts, Andrew has a channel in as he's been in the industry for years. I can ask if he can do something with it. Usually its swapping out any/all of the old tantalum caps if they use them, then replacing the main caps and any that measure out of spec, which if you dont have a spec sheet is easy really if they all measure close great if one if off swap all channels while you are there, checking any of the connections, he often swaps XLR's etc

 

[spinaltap]

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