21 year old AV receiver - waiting for the end?


Since 2002 my Rotel RSX-1055 has been on almost every single day. It has never failed in well over 20,000 hours of running - maybe 30,000. My $1200 investment has worked out well (However, had I put this in Apple stock, it would be about 150k). I know that capacitors can dry out over time, so I looked into some preventive maintenance. Rotel’s answer was it’s not supported, they don’t have parts, and a local shop who does a lot of work on old amps, mostly tube stuff, says they don’t work on AV receivers. I doubt I can find anyone to do this. So my question is, what will the end look like? Is it likely to fade out one day? Will there be a faint sizzle sound, or smell of electronics frying? Or will I wake up one morning to find it has passed quietly in the night? How long could this thing last? I don’t want to give up on it.

karavite

Thanks. I'm probably not going to put effort or money into it, but I can't help anthropomorphize it a bit - it has been faithful member of the household for two decades.

If you use it almost every day and considering its age I’d recommend leaving it on 24/7 — unless you’re leaving home for several days — rather than constantly turning it on and off almost every day (if that’s what you’re doing).  And I agree you should not sink one dime into servicing it and put any of those $$$ toward a new AVR instead.  Hope it continues to soldier on for you though!

Open your wallet and get something new and better. It won't hurt too much.

Thanks. I'm probably not going to put effort or money into it, but I can't help anthropomorphize it a bit - it has been faithful member of the household for two decades.

Give it another 10 years. :)

There might be a little smoke and smell.  there might be some static or hum.  

But most likely one channel will quietly quit making music.

Jerry