Lifespan of a quality solid state amplifier?

Had a PS Audio 200C amp years ago and it began sounding lifeless with a cracking sound audible. Called PS Audio and the tech said that after about 20 years the caps are pretty much shot. Which led to my purchase of a Belles 350A.

...I will not be responding further since you clearly have no intention of accepting the overwhelming body of evidence that contradicts what you say...

No, caps age. The thread was how LONG and how WELL and amp can sound as it gets older. To go to some of the extremes in this thread would be to toss out an amp as soon as time changes. The discussion was NEVER that caps don't age (you seem to be hell bent on thinking I don't know that), it was how gracefully they age. Nothing contardicts what I say. A fifteen year or older amp can sound pretty darn good. Remember too, that caps are selected to provide the best service and sound where they are used. SS is a wonderful thing...for a long time.

I too will post my last comment. Even though I know squat about electronics, I repeat what I posted before. I own 2 vintage Crown "back-up" amps from the 70s. The darn things are bomb proof. Even though I have sent them to the Crown factory every once in a while for a check-up, the factory always winds up replacing a few out of spec electrolytics or resisters. The parts cost a buck or two a piece, but the point is they GET replaced. Like US, they AGE. My point is that I love my old Crown amps. I don't care how they sound compared to current stuff. They are 100% USA built, top build quality, and I'm proud to own them. The fact that a couple crappy little passives needs to be replaced every couple years to keeps the amps working at barely measurable distortion levels is AMAZING. That's why I own all ARC gear. It's 100% USA built with probably 100% USA built passives. Even though I pay a heck of lot more that if I bought some foreign built stuff, I'm proud to own it, proud that I can support American CRAFTSMEN/WOMEN. And so far, I can say that other than an occassional bad tube or bias resister, the stuff is bomb proof just like my back-up Crown gear. So THERE!! HUH!! G-d Bless America!!!!!!!

Sorry to jump on such an old thread, but it was certainly an interesting discussion. Through a series of unexpected events, I ended up getting pulled back into home audio through the portal of the legendary solid state Crown commercial amps of the ’70s and 80s.

After reading all the lively fan chat about these legendary rock and roll work horses, I’ve been having fun building robust mid-level home stereos around two bargain early ’80s PS-220 units - one with, and one without, rack handles.

It appears that both of them were used in churches, based on their home-made user stickers and eBay seller descriptions. FWIW, I scored one for $125 and the other one for $85.

Built a 6U rack around one of them for our cottage, with high-end 1U TASCAM media player/bluetooth device, modest 1U three-pot preamp and a 1U surge protector power strip. It powers a set of 1990s Cerwin Vega bookshelves and a vintage Jensen powered sub.

The other one, I went the opposite way, with a goal of experiencing a lean rat rod rig in our living room with only a BLT2 DAC into a Shiit un-powered two nput switchable pre-amp, sitting right on top of the amp with ample clear rubber feet :) New mid-price towers and a sweet REL T/5i finish this deal.

To the point of the thread, the PS200 for the rat rod had a lazy red "SPI light" on the left channel, so I sent it away to AE Techron, the Crown mother ship, manned by long time techs and engineers from before the company was purchased by Harman Kardon. It was a great experience in customer service. They replaced the Main IC Dual Op, two 4.7 uf 50V caps and an axial diode. $2.50 for the parts and $255 for the service diagnostic and repair...and I scored a really nice sturdy shipping box from them in the process. It was like one of their babies came home for check up. Very professional.

Both amps have performed very well, can’t really sense a big performance gap between the serviced and un-serviced one, but they are in two different systems in two different homes.

So, yes, these bits can go south, and may need serviced over decades of use, but these old Crowns sound like a million bucks in carefully placed settings in our two houses...for pennies on the dollar!

I listen with Audire equipment.  A power supply capacitor failed in the Diffet preamp and was replaced.  But the almost 50 year old Model 2 amplifier soldiers on without fail and sounds amazing.