Some of you may know that I have a weakness for vintage stereo receivers, particularly Technics, Sony, Pioneer and Kenwood....In all I have over sixty units now, most in various states of disrepair...Perhaps fifteen are running now and I cycle them through and "blow the carburetor" out on all of them once in awhile to keep em thumpin. What I rarely do, however is recap. And I should add the average age of my typical receiver is approaching 40 years of age.
I don't recap for several reasons...First, I am a firm believer in the synergy of having all components mature together. I remember about five years ago I came into a beautiful Sony STR-6036A, an amazing unit whose output far exceeded the sticker 15 watts. Anyway, I had joined another forum and the consensus seemed to be that anything and everything should be recapped willy nilly if over thirty years old...wow! How exciting! I was gonna have a chance to have at all my gear and recap til the cows came home. I started with the Sony....my beautiful classic Sony. I gathered the caps and one fine day I popped on my apron, wielded the desoldering iron and, in three hours, changed out every electrolytic on the boards...
Sadly, when I brought the unit up slowly on the variac I was shocked at how the tone had changed! About 20% of the midrange just disappeared! I could have cried...hell, I think I did cry! And you know the saddest part is that there was nothing wrong with the caps I changed out...not a one of them...Sony used great stuff and those were the days when caps were quality, quality, quality.
You know my bottom line is that electronic gear acquires an audio patina just like fine furniture, beautiful coins, and antiques in general....Finagling with replacing components just because they may have some age is just senseless...look at them first...really look at them...I can guarantee you that 95% + of them will look great, if not all...
My Sony never sounded the same again but I never had another recap festival again..and all my equipment has held up beautifully! Just because you have a nice piece of vintage gear does not mean it should be recapped....the old saying that to a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail, is very appropriate here...to an audiophile with the recapping urge, everything looks like a chance to use the desoldering and soldering iron...I encourage you to resist the urge...once the patina of sound is gone, it can not be brought back...
In closing I should mention that I have done plenty of repair jobs for people who recapped units only to have trimmed leads carelessly fall down into the unit and short out components on the board...be careful, use a variac, and check after every changeout...you won't have the woe is me..what did I do wrong regrets...
Just my two cents....love to hear yours and Happy New Year!
Rosie