Importance of recapping a SS amp?

Jl35, exactly right !
Time and again I've listened to systems where the owner says said amp is 18 years old and good as ever.
It never is but, as you say, he's so used to the gradual decline he can't hear it.

'Again, Odyssey can best advise you what to do.'

Actually, it was Klaus at Odyssey who recommended this. I have had only good experiences dealing with him over the years but wondered what the conventional wisdom was, if any. As with many issues with this hobby, opinions appear mixed.

'It never is but, as you say, he's so used to the gradual decline he can't hear it.'

My hearing has probably declined in synch with the amp.:)

Jim

The manual for my Pass amp states that the power supply caps can start to deteriorate at 15 years.

I have a vintage Kenwood Supreme 600 from 1974. In 2006 I had it recapped, and it was overdue, but not by 17 years. You couldn't hear any degradation in sound, but the big caps had started to bulge at the bottom. After the recap, things were brighter and cleaner. Good for another 20-25 I'd say.

I asked krell about how long will new caps last, their answer, The more you drive the amp hard, hotter, louder, very long listening session's, the shorter life span of the caps for our amplifier's. That said, that was my answer since I got up-graded modded caps inside my amp, I got a total cap job, all of them, not a partial job, this maybe different with other brand's of audio, but since I own a krell amp, I am going to go with what they told me!, 10 to 15 years by misuse or 20 to 25 years by doing what krell said to take care of the amp.