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Amplifier Longevity Question

When I got started with quality two-channel equipment, after my first pair of decent speakers (B&W CDM-7NTs), I bought a Magnum Dynalab MD208 receiver.  This was in approx. 2001; a leap of faith, based mostly on a Stereophile review.  About a year later, after upgrading speakers, I bought a McIntosh MC402 power amp, and used the Magnum Dynalab only as a preamp and tuner.

Although I've since changed sources, speakers, and cabling, the MD208 and MC402 are still in use today.  (For about 7 years, they weren't used much; before and since they've been played daily, or close to daily.)  I have no complaints about sound quality.  I have noticed zero SQ degradation, despite two household moves, and placement in living rooms for the entire period.  My system (with Sonus Faber speakers) sounds good to me, and to my wife, a retired classical musician.  I wish the MC402 didn't weigh about 115 lbs, and would rather that our last movers hadn't lost the MD208's remote, and somehow caused the volume knob to decrease its immediate responsiveness (a very minor issue), but otherwise, I have nothing to complain about.

But nothing last forever. And at this point, a decent audiophile system is important to us. I'm not itching to make a change, but I am curious to get some sense from my fellow A'goners about the remaining useful life of these two components, which have served me well.  What should I reasonably expect?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

gg107

Showing 3 responses by blisshifi

blisshifi's avatar
blisshifi
1,231 posts
 

Generally electronics should last a good 20-30 years of moderate to regular use before its capacitors and other electronic components do not perform as well as they should. Given that you haven’t used them that heavily, you should probably expect them to work well for another 5-10 years. 

Because of their age, it might be a good idea for a tech to look them over to make sure they are running to spec. Amplifiers tend to need bias adjustments over time, and sometimes this can make the unit sound better on top of lasting longer. 

blisshifi's avatar
blisshifi
1,231 posts
 

+1 @erik_squires

And I would say not just output transistors but any transistors. If an amp drifts out of spec, or if it is a Class A or AB amp and that constantly generates a lot of heat, the transistors can get exhausted and not perform their switching duties, fail and cause leakages or shortages that can send the amp to protection more or fry them.

Tantalum capacitors almost easily fail and can melt or bubble up with too much heat over time. Electrolytic capacitors typically don’t leak, but they just don’t store and deliver to their spec as they dry up, which starts to introduce distortion and/or thinness to the sound.

Transformers are generally incredibly durable and very difficult to ruin unless too much excess current fries a fuse that is built into it. And circuit boards are generally fine unless something causes a short to fry it, typically from one of the electrical components as described above. 

blisshifi's avatar
blisshifi
1,231 posts
 

@erik_squires Absolutely agree that the output transistors are typically the first to go of any transistors in the unit.

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