Jim, ?yes, well mostly! ?and I cannot find real fault with what you said, unless I quibble.

I was only responding to the idea of “best” ?ESR, and then drifted of course.. a little

The second topic of modifying/upgrading depends mostly on whether you are wanting to preserve or not.

For such a rig, as a SR2000, many people want to operate and also mostly preserve, while reducing problems inherent in designs of the time. In this case there is no end to how many mods there might be. I got into old radios just to save may father’s 1930’s SW radios, one with a magic eye, and ……………! So I tend to want to preserve.

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Jim, ??re: “ to preserve” …ESR? …etc

To preserve to me means to protect or maintain an item so that it is useful.?

preserve ??.. From some dictionary

: to keep safe from injury, harm, or destruction ?????

: to keep or save from decomposition?

: to keep up and reserve for personal or special use ??

?I think that car collectors have no problem using unleaded gas or a blended motor oil (or a synthetic) as opposed to what was originally specified in the owner's guide. beyond me

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Replacing a 5Y3 only requires one to pull the tube and insert an octal plug with two rectifiers soldered in using a salvaged tube base.? Easily undone and it removes a lot of unneeded heat.?? I guess maybe but that is another topic

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As for low ESR filter capacitors, they were not a concern back when these radios were designed.?Yes ?I don't understand why ESR would be of concern now. Yes for old rigs. ? Any new, brand name, electrolytic capacitor is superior ?to what was available back in the day ?yes as regards ESR, but we can talk about their real-world life in another 20,30,40,50,60 years? Paying a premium for a low ESR filter capacitor that does nothing to improve performance makes little sense to me.??Yes, almost, but the IR drop should not be completely forgotten, and a premium might give you a better cap in other respects

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I am more prone to use new much smaller radial electrolytic caps under the chassis and leave the old aluminum can filter capacitor unconnected and used as a place holder.? ?

?Well, that is one reasonable approach. ?At some point, most likely a cap fails totally or is on the verge. If you want it to be more than a “never on looker” the original guts need to be disconnected ?.. agreed I guess. ?Now you need an electrical replacement. Even with a lot of work, a true OEM replacement that works probably can’t be found and slowly reformed etc [but it might not be impossible ], and it seems like you have often ?done that, I think.

But most likely, people will go to one of the well-known procedures, which is a function of the desire to have an original “looker” ---outside, inside, and under. It also depends on your tools, stock of repair stuff, your dexterity, your curiosity. And then there is ?the long term gratification/pride? received [no word for this], and past similar jobs that worked out. So, there is no one size fits all, IMO?

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Perhaps deceitful but no one is the wiser since the average Joe would not notice any difference while he enjoys an old working radio.

Jim. your phrase ?“Perhaps deceitful” ??is a very interesting. I would say it is not deceiving others as long as you don’t hide the fact, it is a reasonable compromise in replacing like with like under the situation. But you might feel it is deceiving, and run around with that bothering you[me]… or not. ?Doesn’t it depend on how you think of your own workmanship, and what you expect of yourself? {“you” is the generalized you}, and I would suggest, if you think you could have done a better job under the situation, maybe it will nag at you when you go to sleep, but if you feel satisfied with your job, you can leave it and be free. ?I/we wont be any the wiser or lose sleep.? ?

OMG, where am I? ?

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