Old SS amps

@devinplombier

Hey Devin.  So, I visually inspected it first - no leakage or obvious signs of trouble.  The question is, since I have already plugged it in and tried it, is it too late now to go back and put it on a variac as you suggested.  It was probably 4 months ago that I fired it up after about 18 years in storage.

Question two: If you had two amplifiers of equal age, let's say 30 years old, one had been used almost daily for those 30 years and one had sat for 20 years unused, would one be more likely than the other to need a re-cap?

@ronmen 

The idea of the variac is to let dried-out caps reform progressively and spare them the full blast of inrush current while in a compromised state. So going back on the variac at this point is unlikely to make a difference.

Re question 2... a lot happens to electronics in 20 years, both actively used and stored. So... it depends.

That said, I think the compulsive hand-wringing over capacitors (while glossing over everything else) that seems to afflict many in the audiophile community is misguided. A number of potential issues with vintage gear are more important than caps.

@devinplombier

Does that mean you do not have an opinion on the specific question?  Also, what would you consider the more important issues?  'Just to be clear, I'm not trying to be antagonistic.  Please don't interpret my questions that way.  I'm just trying to learn. Thanks.

All well over 20 years, the newest is a Bryston 6BSST. I also still use a Bryston 4BST, 7BST and 10B Sub crossover.

Years ago my dad gave me his MC2125 and C28. I had them serviced and find them fun to listen to but lack the clarity of more modern amps. That said I’d rather listen to this pair over many sub $2500(I think equal value after you pull out the nostalgia value) pre/amps/integrateds, but not compared to many better amps I’ve had.

There is something about this pairing that brings me back 30 years, whether tone or timing or whatever, so there is that piece of the puzzle that’s fun too.