Moto VT71: a better ballast?

[polyphase]

The only thing that could shunt the 'reactive element' (capacitor) is a failure of the capacitor itself. For a modern film capacitor, this possibility is so remote that I stand by my above comment.

I agree that omitting the other ballast element would not be a great idea. I chose 20 ohms for my ballast so I could get away with a 5W device. This choice had the added benefit of boosting the B+ voltage by about 5%. IMO this is a good thing, as in my view the VT71 chassis is somewhat 'voltage starved'. Performance improved, particularly the sync lock. However, I appreciate that meeting OEM specs is more often than not the goal of a restoration. To each his own.