I can't remember ever having a receiver fail. Every receiver I've owned still functions. If I visit my dad, he still uses a receiver that he got in the 1980s.

I can't remember ever having a receiver fail. Every receiver I've owned still functions. If I visit my dad, he still uses a receiver that he got in the 1980s. Older receivers (1980s) can blow an output transistor, which is a pain (fixable if you are skilled). Newer receivers are often built with integrated power amps that have extensive protection circuitry... they're truly impressive, and hard to accidentally damage. I've done some amplifier repair work. The amplifiers I repaired were typically much older (1950s, 1960s). The most common failure modes are fuses blowing, potentiometers failing, capacitors failing, and PCB-mounted jacks failing.