Amp not enough power


Fellow Audiogoner's I had my Aragon 4004 Mk II amp tested by a tech and it only produces 203 watts @8 ohms and 380 watts @4 ohms. I remember this amp able to produce more rated power specially when it is driving difficult loads. Any suggestions or comments are welcome.
stateoftheart
Are you certain the input voltage was referenced?

And how old is the amp? Perhaps some components are simply ready for replacement to restore full power.
I'm the second owner of this amp. My tech ran 1k hz sine wave. 120v input voltage. The amp I guess is about 18 yrs old. What components inside could degrade in time?
As you probably realize, the 4004MkII is rated at 200W and 400W into 8 and 4 ohms respectively. At the time it was introduced, FTC requirements for amplifier power ratings specified a "pre-conditioning" prior to the measurements, comprised of 1 hour of operation driving a 1kHz signal into an 8 ohm or 4 ohm resistive load, at 1/3 of rated power. I believe that about 10 years ago the pre-conditioning requirements were revised to something less stringent.

I would question the tech as to how he did the pre-conditioning. If it was for longer than 1 hour, or at more than 1/3 of rated power, that might account for the 4 ohm measurement being less than 400W.

Also, I would ask him what the temperature conditions of the room were at the time. In a hot, non-air conditioned environment it is also conceivable that the measurement would be reduced.

Regards,
-- Al