The Capacitor Clock is Ticking

I'm afraid I bring bad news for all vintage hi-fi enthusiasts. We are reaching an apocalypses moment and it is vital we all recognize this problem and address it before its too late.

All of your Hi-Fi components contain electronic components and one of the most common and important components are: CAPACITOR components...

I won't get bogged down in explaining what capacitors are because I don't have the time or anywhere near enough technical knowledge. But basically, they are used to smooth out currents in power supplies, frequency filtering, oscillation ect.

They come in many different types but the most common is the Electrolytic Capacitor. Again, Im not going into too much detail here but an electrolytic capacitor is essentially a metal can filled with paper soaked in Electrolyte.

Electrolyte is a chemical, a liquid, and liquids will dry up over time. When the electrolyte in a capacitor dries up, the value of the capacitor will change and eventually the capacitor will fail.

If a capacitor fails, it could have devastating effects on your equipment, damaging other comments in the circuit. This means high repair bills and in some cases, where replacement components are not available, can lead to you owning a rather expensive door stop.

If you own an amplifier from the 70's, its now reaching 40 years old and the capacitors inside will be way past their best. So the clock is ticking and if you do nothing the amp will eventually fail.

Do not fear though, there is light at the end of the tunnel, two lights in fact.

You can have an amplifier "re-capped", in other words, new capacitors through-out. It is a little expensive but there are two plus sides.

One: you have saved your amplifier from failing and hopefully this cherished gem will give another 40 years of faithful service.
Two: The sound improvement will be considerable and you will be able to enjoy your music like never before.

So there you have it guys and the same goes for capacitors in passive speaker crossovers. So pick up a soldering iron and do those ya self. You simply replace like for like, there's no high voltages to fry yourself with, and the sound improvements will be appreciated.