amplifier longevity

Much has to do with the quality of the gear, the capacitors are the ones to fail first .

the better ones usually last much  longer as well as the coupling caps sound far better when name brand but cost much more $$ .

I had Metaxis monos one of which literally went up in flames and also one of the first Musical Fidelity Nu Vista preamps which went incendiary, less spectacularly, because of the dumb double decker design, in a small cabinet with no heat sinks. The designer should have been shot.

blackdoghifi, true.

I don't know what to say except thank-you to each and everyone of you!

This is my first  post, in my life(!) here on Audiogon or any forum, amazing!

Thank-you for the thoughtfulness, and sincerity, of the responses, its great!

Reviews from actual users are worth their weight in gold.

I will have to take more seriously the issue of heat and tube replacement that comes with valve amps, but the hands on that come with tube amps has its appeal.

Happy Holidays to everyone here and thanks again

Tube amps can last a long time because they are fairly easy to repair. Solid state amps, on the other hand, can have their lifespan limited by parts becoming obsolete. Lot of amps made in the 90's used transistors (very good ones by Toshiba and Motorola) that are now no longer made. As long as parts are available, solid state amps can last forever. (Some would say the capacitors go bad, which they can, but for the most part if they are good quality they will last years. The power supply caps in my vintage 70's Marantz receiver test like new to this day).