We recap, why not re-sist?

Hi Parabolic,

I re-resist. :) But depends. For resistors there are in fact many boutique or highly sought after brands for electronics as well as speakers.

The big issue in tube gear though is the caps. They are complicated to manufacture, sound quite different and almost always will be in the signal path. I wrote this elsewhere as a joke:

"A good tube preamp is a very nice set of capacitors surrounded by tubes and other crap."

Outside of tubes, transistor gear can be built without a cap in the signal path. Caps are also found in speaker crossovers, especially on the way to the tweeter.

For resistors, IMHO the biggest issue after noise is thermal effects, which cause the resistance to change as it warms up, so the resistors most immune to this command the big bucks.  However, some like a certain vintage sound and seek out resistors just for this.  If you were building a guitar amp, with tubes and wanted it to sound as close to something from the 60's as you could this is the way to go.

Best,


Erik

I’m asking because I have a Krell KRC-3 preamp on the way. Assuming it was made in the first year of its release (1995) that makes it 21 years old by now. It was recommended to recap the unit, but it got me to wondering about the rest of it.  However, the thought of trying such a feat on a piece of equipment like this scares the bejeezus out of me.

So theoretically, any piece of audio (or other electronics equipment for that matter) has a definite lifespan then, correct? Or is this a case where the caps - because they’re in the signal path - ought to be replaced but everything surrounding them is less critical and can function for decades or longer because it doesn’t affect the audio characteristics?

Just curious about how it all works.

There are two main reasons people recap electronics.  One, regarding electrolytics(specifically), is that they dry out over time(increasing their internal resistance or ESR) or can leak their electrolyte.   The other is presentation and that some caps(ie: film/foil) can sound so much more transparent than aluminum and paper.   Some prefer the presentation of film and oil caps(different strokes/tastes).    Individual components all generate a certain amount of thermal(Johnson–Nyquist) noise and some resistors are noisier than others.   Carbon composition resistors are usually considered the noisiest, metal-films pretty quiet and wire-wounds the quietest.  One can also tweak the sound of their gear with resistor swaps in certain circuits.  ie: Carbon resistors will impart are warmer presentation than metal films, in most circuits.    One of the reasons older tube gear has a tendency to maintain a, "warm and tubey" sound(regardless of tubes rolled and chosen) is the proliferation of carbon comp resistors, in those units.    I've brought numerous pieces up to today's cleaner/more accurate presentation, with the judicious application of Vishay's metal-film resistors(for instance).    Then there were the popular Sprague Black Beauty caps............