Greetings everyone,

First post. Thank you for taking the time to pop in here to assist.

I am still learning grading and I am uncertain if this board classifies as a Peripheral or a lower mid grade. The heatsink is soldered onto the board. I tried to remove and the board began to buckle.

This board came out of a bose sound system from late 90s based dates on the board.

Remove the glass fuse. Sending glass in is a no no. Also. You can cut off the studs of the shield protruding through the back of the board. Cut the studs as flush to the board as possible. That should help removing the shield. Use side cutters. Or. Desolder the shield from the board. Solder wick helps a lot removing solder or use a solder bulb. That should allow you to remove it. High Peripheral. I agree.
Here to learn like everybody else.

Remove the blue battery

The "blue battery" is labeled C312. It is not a battery. But being suspicious of something like that is a yes. Manufacturers do that often enough to demand close attention to disc shaped components shrunk wrapped in color. But. Thankfully. It is labeled as a capacitor. If it was a battery. It should be labled with a B. As in B1.
Here to learn like everybody else.