[Henry] Replacing tube sockets in Henry 2K3

[John King]

I have a Henry 2K3 amp that had been run so hard, by previous owner, that the solder melted out of the tube pins and over time the tube sockets lost the tension in the sockets. As a result tube pins did not make good contact in the sockets so the filaments would be intermittent.

Now I have two NEW Johnson replacement sockets for the 3-500 Z tubes, and plan to replace the sockets.

I have several other 3-500Z amps and have modified the Heath SB 220s by removing the RF chokes and caps from the tube sockets and merely grounding the grid  pins of the sockets through a 3 ohm resistor to ground from each of the three grid pins. This change has worked great and operation has been very stable and dependable.

I am considering doing the same modification to the Henry 2K3 when I replace the tube sockets. My Amp Supply LK 500Z amp came from the factory with the grid pins all grounded directly to the chassis.

Has anyone replaced the sockets in a 2K3? Has anyone eliminated the parts on the grids and grounded  the grids directly to chassis ground? Did you make any additional mods or change anything else in the 2K3 circuitry?

I will greatly appreciate hearing from you about your mods, repairs or changes to a Henry amp that uses 3-500Z tubes. Thanks in advance and 73, John, K5PGW