2. amps-preamps
  3. 190987-1294

Replacing Capacitors, I Don’t Wanna!

Hi All,

I spoke to my speaker tech the other day and he brought up my ASR Emitter II Exclusive amplifier, referring to its age and the number of capacitors I’ll have to replace. I bought it new in 2011 so I expect to get at least another ten years before I’ll have to replace its 50+ capacitors but admittedly, I have little knowledge in this area. Just wondering what others have to say about this and I appreciate your input. Here’s a description of the amp ;

https://asraudio.de/files/ASR-Emitter2-Exclusive-Akku-Audiophile-Test-2011-EN.pdf

128x128goofyfoot
goofyfoot's avatar
goofyfoot OP
1,374 posts
 

@larryi @kmtang ;  Everything is working as it should, obviously no need to concern myself with replacing capacitors at this stage. To be fair, I think my speaker tech has the tendency to overthink things. So what you’ve both shared is pragmatic and sound advice. 

gs5556
1,235 posts
 

I looked at a picture under the hood and I see those blue caps are the Vishay BC 135 series capacitors. Their lifespan is 250,000 hours at a 40C ambient. That's over 28 years if you do the maths. If the temperature inside the case is lower, say 30C, then the lifespan is 630,000 hours. So hopefully by then your great-great-grandchildren will be handy with a soldering iron.

 

goofyfoot's avatar
goofyfoot OP
1,374 posts
 

@gs5556 Thanks, that's good for my mental health!

jasonbourne71's avatar
jasonbourne71
1,190 posts
 

My 40- year old Sumo Andromeda amp has been in daily use now for several years. Perfectly quiet - no problems. If your ASR amp is the same I wouldn't worry. The only caps that might become problematic would be the power supply caps. There are typically two or four in most amps.

bigkidz
3,383 posts
 

The replacement or upgrade to better capacitors will improve the sound so just don't replace, upgrade them and a few resistors to Mills or Audio Note non-magnetic.

 

Happy Listening

More to discover