With static electricity in this cold dry winter. I fried the right channel of my Classe Amp last night with the touch of a finger. I usually have anti-static sheets in hand before touching anything but this time did not.
Static can and does impart damage. Mosfet transistors and ICs are particularly susceptible. Some people destroy electronics with static unknowingly. It doesn't always happen with an obvious shock.
I work with industrial electronics for the last 38 years and by FAR the biggest enemy of our equipment is static(after the "human" factor of course!) as unfortunately the process we are manufacturing generates static at every turn! I have personally seen 400hp drives killed by static discharge before we got a lil smarter in our wiring and approach. And dont even mention the blackened fingernails some techs have suffered......lol. It is a genuine, under-estimated problem for sure.
So which components inside the amplifier/preamplifier get most affected by the static discharge? What about tube vs. SS gear? I'd guess active components like transistors inside SS electronic devices are the first ones to get fried, not capacitors, resistors, etc.
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