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Pye Hf25 restoration project

Oh, and like others here I favour a sympathetic resto that brings the safety up to standard (I'd be losing the Bulgin mains connectors)and replaced dead caps with modern equivalents. If a collector subsequently wants to return the thing to completely original, make the work reversible so that they can refit the Bulgins and resolder leaky old paper in oil caps.
I've seen this done very well in classic cars and bikes. I saw a Lotus 7 Series 2 with a worn out engine, rebuild cost was eye watering but the restorers built an engine cradle that allowed the fitment of a modern motorcycle engine using the original engine mounts. Low cost, less weight, more power. Go on then. If anyone wants to spend £5000 on a twin cam rebuild, then it's their money and they can do that and drop it back in. I've also seen classic bikes with suicide brakes removed and a new front wheel built with a decent TLS hub brake. The bike now stops, but if you want to kill yourself in modern traffic in the pursuit of originality you can refit the original ineffective brakes in minutes by reverting to the original wheel. 2 wheelnuts and a brake cable. One on, one off.
 
I’m personally not bothered about the Bulgin connectors on my Leaks. They are mint condition (NOS plugs), properly terminated with strain relief and I have no kids etc. They are perfectly safe in my usage context. No way in hell would I use one on a Vox, Marshall, HiWatt or whatever guitar amp in a pro gigging environment though, I’ve been electrocuted by a cracked one that fell apart in that scenario.

I started a thread recently discussing whether it is even legal to sell stuff as ‘working’ with them now. Chances are it isn’t. That’s certainly the view at Rift Amps (a high-end guitar amp maker). He replaces them on every amp that comes in for service. I know I’ll never sell my TL-12 Plus so why bother? They are perfectly safe in my usage scenario.

PS Same story with the Quad 303 and its mini-Bulgin. It is perfectly safe in my usage context.
 
The paralleled triode input is very reminiscent of the David Manley VTL designs. Lack of balancing resistors across C13 & C14 is a bit worrying. The variable damping suggests they had one eye on the US market where it was de rigueur in the 50s, there's also the alternative US tubes listed. Pye also used some positive feedback in their later Black Boxes, perhaps not surprisingly stability seems to have been an issue.
 
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