Amplifier's age


I see posts about an amplifier's age and how it's getting long in the tooth. What does that mean? If you maintain your equipment, caps etc., it's well made to begin with, it doesn't use rare transistors and such what difference does it make? Maybe a new amp sounds better, maybe it doesn't. I see amps especially SS McIntosh amps that were made back at the dawn of transistor technology still plugging along. Some tube amps are 50-60 years old. Is it because we always have to find the next thing?
digepix

Showing 1 response by jmcgrogan2

I think most folks are just leery of buying older equipment because they don't know how well it has been maintained. It's just like buying an older car. Yes, there are great sounding older amps, but some folks fear buying one and having to replace the caps right away. This can run up a good repair bill.

However, I like a lot of the older amps, especially solid state amps, better than more recent offerings. I prefer amps biased into Class A, which was quite popular a couple of decades ago, but not so popular nowadays. My amp turns 20 this year, and sounds great! I just had it back at the factory for service last year, so it's good for another 100,000 miles. :)