Do amps degrade over time?


Most of my system is fairly new but I have a 15 year old Sunfire Cinema Grand amp. I had it serviced and recapped a few years ago when it started giving a buzzing sound (I realize capacitors need to be replaced after a while). I'm wondering if it's worth upgrading it. To be honest, I would probably replace it with something similar but newer. So my question is: Does the performance of a solid state amp degrade over time sonically? Would I get an improvement in sound quality with a newer amp? Or should I just keep using it until it really breaks down?
malcolm02

Showing 1 response by atmasphere

Transistors also degrade over time but it usually takes longer than 15 years. By the time the unit is 30 years old one can expect a higher noise floor, not only from the transistors but also the resistors. Corrosion can also cause semiconductors to fail for no apparent reason. This is usually a problem associated more with ICs but it can certainly affect discrete devices also.

For now though, since you already have the power supply filter caps replaced, I would expect no worries for quite some time.