You know what? You are right. The problem does seem to arise after a bit of play time. Things warm up and expand, which could easily open a cold solder joint. This set has an absolutely beautiful picture till this problem kicks in. Just like the day it was brought home new...

I don't care much for tampering with the many jumbled wires and connections. Not that I CANT do it but I know it will be a job marking what is not keyed in a socket. I don't enjoy the solid state work like tube work.

I saw a similar abandoned set at a flea market and robbed the crt and chassis right there with a $2 Chinese bit driver/socket set. I got it home and found out all the stuff was completely different. Luckily THAT job was easy. I left the cabinet empty in 15 minutes. Turns out there was a lot less connections on the donor......