Got the Panasonic RF-2600 back from being re-capped and having the lamp replaced with an LED. Works great. All the switches and pots cleaned up, no noise.

Took it outside yesterday and listened to it on 20 meters single sideband along with the RF-2200 (older by a few years). Both radios performed similarly in terms of sensitivity, but the 2200 has a better sound. This was true on AM and FM as well. It may have something to do with the cabinet size, I think, as they both have 4" speakers. The 2600 is a bigger cabinet. But there may be differences in audio amplifier design that account for it too. The 2600 isn't bad to listen to, but the 2200 sounds better.

Some quirks on the 2600. It has a digital frequency counter with a vacuum florescent display. It's shielded in a box, but it's designed to be turned off, I think to reduce noise and maybe conserve battery life. With it on I do hear a small amount of noise and it causes the frequency to change a little when I turn it off. Not the case on FM and AM, but detectable on SW.

In any event, because I'm foolish and have time on my hands, I bought the print versions of the service manual and a "technical manual" I didn't even know existed. These aren't prints of scans, they're the original docs and so they weren't cheap.

I also bought another 2600, one that I can open up and play around with. I'll see how it performs first, before I go taking it apart. The guy who re-capped my current one sells the capacitors and led in a package and I may try re-capping this one myself. I've watched a lot of YouTube videos, so I'm an expert, right?

If I manage not to destroy the second 2600 and keep it working, I'll probably give it away to one of my grandkids.