Parasound JC-1 - How old is too old?

Yes, that is part of my concern, particularly if the amps were used inside a cabinet which did not provide adequate ventilation. No way to know on a used amp. 

I owned a Krell FPB-300 (which also ran warm) that I had recapped when it was about 10 years old (only because it was in for service for a broken speaker connector) and it started giving me problems after another 10 years. The cost of repair at that point was prohibitive so I traded it in to a dealer that wanted it for parts. According to a dealer I talked with, failing caps was not uncommon with this series of amp.

Since the JC-1 has been around for 16 years now, I'm worried that an older pair is probably close to being in need of repair even if it was treated well its whole life.

But I'd like to hear from folks that own older units to understand what their experience has been.

@mijostyn Thanks for your comments. That's very helpful. How old are the JC-1's you are using?

Thanks for all the replies. Makes me feel a bit more comfortable buying an older unit. 

Well, I went down to the dealer this morning to check out the amps, and one of them had stopped working just before I got there. The amps were produced in 2007. This convinced me that I really didn't want to deal with an older amp again. 

I mentioned to the dealer that I was also interested in the JC-5, and he offered me a good discount on a brand new one. So I went for it. Should have the amp by the end of this coming week.

I've owned the JC-5 for about five months now. Very nice sounding and way more power than I need with my efficient speakers.

I had a chance to listen to the JC-5 and an older pair of JC-1s on the same system. I thought they had a very similar sonic signature, but I had a slight preference for the JC-5 on the system I was listening on. I wasn't familiar with the speakers, but the dealer said they were about 90db/w efficient.

I suspect lower efficiency speakers would benefit more from the higher current capacity and higher class A bias of the JC-1s, but on the more efficient speakers, the JC-5 had smoother, clearer vocals.