Amplifier Longevity
JLeeMD -- Sun, 07/25/2010 - 20:50
I was reading the post on speaker longevity and found myself wondering when I need to replace my integrated amplifier. I've had my Mark Levinson No. 383 for about 8 years now. Does anyone have any idea when performance on such a unit will start to degrade?
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Wait another ten years and then ask us...
Capacitors will fail eventually, but given Levinson's parts quality you may be in for a long wait before failure.
By the time the Earth begins to fall into the black hole that was once the sun the Levinson will probably need some parts replaced for optimum performance. :)
Steven Stone
Contributor to The Absolute Sound, EnjoytheMusic.com, Vintage Guitar Magazine, and other fine publications
Great!!
My Adyton Cordis 3 B power amplifier is still going strong after 15 years. Keeping capacitors charged by not turning equipment off too often helps.
Electrolytic capacitors degrade over time. The electrolyte eventually dries out and the capacitors decrease in capacitance value as this occurs. High ambient temperatures accelerate the degrading of the capacitors. Internal temperatures can also be elevated by ripple currents. Leaving the equipment on will substantially accelerate the aging process. The best electrolytic capacitors often cannot survive for more than 5 to 10 year of continuous (24 hr/day) use in a typical product. Power amplifiers often run at significantly elevated temperatures and place very difficult demands on capacitors.
Degraded capacitors can cause increased power supply ripple and noise, loss of low-frequency response, increased crosstalk, and increased distortion. If a power amplifier has seen 10 years of continuous operation it is probably overdue for capacitor replacement. Most reputable manufacturers will be able to re-cap your amplifier and restore it to original specifications.
Benchmark manufactures a line of broadcast audio products that are required to operate 25/7/365 for 10 to 15 years. To meet these demands we have to use very high-quality capacitors, and we must oversize the capacitors to anticipate a loss of capacitance as the product ages. We have seen products returned for capacitor replacement after 10, 15, 20, and even 25 years of continuous use. The products exceeding 15 years were usually out of spec. In most cases, capacitor replacement is sufficient to restore original specified performance.
Capacitor lifetime curves are available from all manufacturers of electrolytic capacitors. These curves show substantial lifetime reduction as temperatures increase.
Electrolytic capacitors generally come in two different temperature ratings (85C and 105C). The 105C capacitors generally have much longer lifetimes. Poor-quality capacitors may have a rated lifetime of only 1000 hours at 85 C. In contrast, the best capacitors are rated at 5,000 to 10,000 hours at 105C and will last substantially longer at 85C. Please remember that there are 8760 hours in a year, and time takes its toll on everything.
Amplifiers and their owners are not exempt from the aging process.
John Siau
V.P. Operations
Director of Engineering
Benchmark Media Systems, Inc.
www.benchmarkmedia.com
Expected capacitor longevity of 5-10 years run 24/7...so if I use my integrated ~6 hours/week, then I should be good for at least 20 years...do I have that right? And when performance begins to degrade, will it be gradual and difficult to recognize or will it be more or less abrupt?
In most cases with amplifiers the change will be very gradual.
If an amplifier is entirely analog, its performance will decay gradually once the capacitors are sufficiently degraded. If the product uses oversized capacitors, significant aging can occur before the product begins to go out of spec. If the design uses marginally sized capacitors, performance can gradually decay from day 1. In either case these changes will be slow.
In contrast, digital products tend to fail abruptly. Digital products will work perfectly and then suddenly start failing.
If your amplifier has digital control circuits, these can fail abruptly.
John Siau
V.P. Operations
Director of Engineering
Benchmark Media Systems, Inc.
www.benchmarkmedia.com
Thank you for your reply. Given your response, WHEN should I seriously consider either servicing or replacing my Levinson integrated (I've had it for 8 years and use it ~6 hours a week)?
Given the limited use, it should last many years. The answer depends upon internal temperatures, and upon the quality of the capacitors. Given Levinson's reputation, I would assume that the capacitors are very high-quality.
The lifetime of the capacitors doubles every time the operating temperature is reduced by 10 degrees C. If a capacitor is rated at 1000 hours at 85 degrees C, its lifetime will be 2000 hours at 75 degrees C, 4000 hours at 65 degrees C, 8000 hours at 55 degrees C, and 16,000 hours at 45 degrees C.
If you owned a cheap amplifier (yours is not) that runs at 45 degrees C, with cheap 85 degree 1000 hour capacitors, and you never turned it off, you could have problems in 2 years (16,000 Hours).
You have a quality product with only 2,500 Hours. You should have many years of enjoyment remaining in the product.
If you measure the operating temperature, and read the markings on the capacitors, you could do your own calculations. My recommendation is to simply enjoy it, because you are probably not even close to having a problem.
6 hours a week is substantially different than leaving an amplifier turned on 24/7/365. I do not recommend leaving power amplifiers on unless the capacitors are periodically replaced (at 5 to 10 year intervals).
John Siau
V.P. Operations
Director of Engineering
Benchmark Media Systems, Inc.
www.benchmarkmedia.com
Thank you. I love the Levinson integrated and am happy to know I have many good years left! I'm a little curious as to why they discontinued the No.383 integrated.