To re-cap or not to re-cap? That is the question

Speaker: Film caps in speakers can last forever unless over stressed.  The electrolytic caps, if any, are what dries out. Consider replacing with Axon film caps, if you can compensate for ESR changes. Replacing tweeter/mid caps can change the character of a speaker, so I do suggest you leave that alone unless you have good help.

Amp: With an amp of 1980's, you've had a good 40 years with the original power supply caps, all electrolytics. If you replace them now it will sound better, and you'll greatly reduce the chance of burning up the rest of it.

Best,

Erik

The capacitors in a 80's amplifier will be dried out. No doubt about it.
re-cap it. It does not matter that most capacitors will measure ok.

Audio gear is like a rope under load. 

You can't allow any part along the way to fail, as a minimal failure in one part constitutes being a overall 100% failure.  Not the perfect analogy but close enough.

I've got some very fine 1980s vintage equipment I love and don't want to replace.  

Well, that's it then, isn't it?

On the principle "don't fix it if it ain't broke," I'm inclined to leave well enough alone. I don't notice any audible deficit. But perhaps the system could sound even better?

Right. Changes that are slow and gradual, hardly anyone notices. The frog boils slowly story is there for a reason. Of course the system could sound even better. This is always true! Even right now, me with brand new Tekton Moabs, everyone telling me how much better they will be if only I am smart and replace the "cheap" caps and inductors. They're Mundorf, not cheap, but there are even better more expensive out there and so compared to those yes mine are cheap. Sigh. 

Its ALWAYS this way and so the smart thing it seems to me is instead of asking "is it worth it" which no one can answer the better one is, "what can I afford to spend on an upgrade if I KNOW it will be worth it?" Because it will. 

The difference is this way you take your budget, look at your parts, and divvy it up. Kind of like building a system. If you know you need 5 things and you only have $5k then you know it can't be more than $1k per thing.  

In fact its very similar because if you dig into it some caps the quality is more significant than others. Also its not just caps. Some nice fast hexfred diodes are relatively inexpensive yet make a huge difference.  

One really nice thing about this is its not something you even have to farm out and pay someone to do. Cap values are printed right on the cap. Shop around, find a better one, unsolder old, solder in new, done. Listen. If you don't hear it stop right there, probably never will. Odds are you are impressed just one cap can make so much difference. Keep going. Biggest problem usually is to find the room. Better caps almost always are physically a lot bigger, even though the exact same value they are huge, and there simply may not be room enough to do them all.  

You won't have this problem in the crossovers. Those are very simple circuits. Just sometimes hard to get at. But if you can - no high voltages, plenty of room, only a few parts - perfect place to start.  

My first mod was cap and diode upgrades in a Aronov tube integrated amp. Huge improvement. Will be for you too. Look at it that way. Plan your work. Work your plan.

It seems more than a little frivolous to write about this, given what's unfolding in our nation's capitol at the moment. But...

Thanks to several of my favorite regular voices on this forum--especially Eric, from whom I've learned a lot, and Chuck Miller, who is always articulate and well-informed even when he pisses me off (which he almost always manages to do).

Good to know that the caps in my Teslas are probably OK. Accessing them would be challenging. And good to know that I really should replace the amp caps, after almost 40 years of constant use. 

And thanks also to Mr. Miller for the straightforward suggestion that I could do that myself. I'm pretty handy with a soldering iron, and I do value things I've done for myself more than those I've paid someone else to do. Besides, when I do it myself, I know exactly what has actually been done. 

Is there anything else I ought to do to renew a 40 year old amplification circuit?