On Sun, 21 Oct 2007 10:24:54 +0100, "Serge Auckland"
wrote:

How far does the bad capacitor problem effect hi-fi equipment?. I mean the
notoriously bad ones which were manufactured or should I say incorrectly
counterfeited a number of years ago.


Electrolytic capacitors do need replacing, but generally they're good for at
least 20 years. If you've no hum, then at least the main reservoirs are
fine, but more insidious are the bypass and coupling capacitors which will
reduce bass response as they dry out. Nevertheless, equipment made in the
last 10 years should be fine. As to the counterfeit components, as far as I
know this only affected the "boutique" brands which for marketing reasons
would consider fitting "designer" capacitors. Everybody else would be more
than satisfied with standard commercial-grade components. I haven't ever
heard of QUAD, Audiolab or ARCAM going in for "designer" capacitors, just
properly engineered commercial components.

The batch of bad capacitors that affected a generation of computer
motherboards certainly weren't "boutique" items. Did that
manufacturer also sell into the designer market?