Quote:
Originally Posted by dave walsh
No one seems to quite know where this "change all caps" notion originated
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I think I first heard of this in connection with refurbishment of studio desks, where there are many capacitors in the signal path of each channel, densely packed and running up to 24/7 for a decade. This would have taken enough of the electrolytics beyond their design life to justify wholesale replacement, on grounds of reliability if nothing else - and at the time there were the budgets available to do it. Enough of the audio fraternity took the headline away and pronounced it a panacea, without understanding the background.
Of course there are cases where it's sensible just to do the lot - David's (RW) Revox tuner which had spent many years roasting in a rack is a good example, as are Fostex G series multitracks, where the failure rate is woefully high - but most domestic semiconductor-based kit is best served by replacing faulty capacitors and letting the rest be.