rodman99999 brings up some of the key reasons to re-cap older audio gear.
the thing to understand is that re-capping is directed mostly to electrolytic caps which are mostly in the power supply. Boutique electrolytic caps (paper in oil, silver/gold foil in oil, etc) are also in the signal path but they encounter much smaller signal amplitudes hence their degradation over time is much less.
So another reason to re-cap is that over time electrolytic capacitors in the power supply are heat cycled & heat is one of the worse enemies of caps. As rodman99999 wrote these caps’ ESR increases & the power supply becomes grungier. Additionally, power supply caps (due to heat cycling) can show bulging on the top. This is a sign of internal mechanical failure & the capacitor can explode while operating thereby destroying a lot of other things inside the amp. You don’t want this to happen - repairs can be very expensive.
So, if the audio gear is 10-15-20 yrs old, re-cap the power supply electrolytics.... Do not re-sist! ;-)
the thing to understand is that re-capping is directed mostly to electrolytic caps which are mostly in the power supply. Boutique electrolytic caps (paper in oil, silver/gold foil in oil, etc) are also in the signal path but they encounter much smaller signal amplitudes hence their degradation over time is much less.
So another reason to re-cap is that over time electrolytic capacitors in the power supply are heat cycled & heat is one of the worse enemies of caps. As rodman99999 wrote these caps’ ESR increases & the power supply becomes grungier. Additionally, power supply caps (due to heat cycling) can show bulging on the top. This is a sign of internal mechanical failure & the capacitor can explode while operating thereby destroying a lot of other things inside the amp. You don’t want this to happen - repairs can be very expensive.
So, if the audio gear is 10-15-20 yrs old, re-cap the power supply electrolytics.... Do not re-sist! ;-)