I didn't even get a chance to buy another Heathkit W-2, when I saw this golden beauty on Ebay. A few bids later and I won. Now the Heathkit W4-AM isn't exactly their best product. There have been several complaints about the quality of the output transformer, stability issues, and the "lower rent" build quality. Personally I think it's a lovely little amplifier and worth the time for a good restore.
The first thing to do is to replace the power supply and coupling capacitors. After that, I plan on doing the bricktop mod to increase stability and improve the quality of the square waves. And of course I have to score another one so I can listen to stereo. But even with one amplifier running, I like what I'm hearing out of a completely stock unit. I also dig the use of all octal tubes and wonder how some Gold Lion KT66 reissues would sound in there - the 4A filament supply should be able to handle the extra load.
