Thanks AA. I found it yesterday.

I think I mentioned it briefly before, but now that I've had 100+ hours into it...
The 596 rectifier is amazing. NOS it's bright slightly harsh for about 50ish hours. After settled it's :yes:

https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3949/3...0b040767a2.jpg

Tis' a cute 'lil robot. :thumbsup:

Any advantage of the ceramic tube sockets vs miconel vs teflon?

BTW: my electronic waving of Benjamins got a quick response. As I said earlier with the chassis pics "something wicked this way comes". Somebody is going to be able to pick up a lightly used PSE and slightly more used 45 SET in the future.

:lurk: popcorn time and see how the movie plays out.

Any advantage of the ceramic tube sockets vs miconel vs Teflon

The Belton Micalex glassfiber filled 8 and 9 pin sockets we use now are great but you need to inspect the 8 pin to make sure the pins are twisted enough to hold them in the body and if not you just finish the twist (rarely happens)
The 4 and 5 gold pin ceramic ones we use are also good but because they are ceramic they need to be checked out for defects such as misshapen holes or chips around holes and improperly or not fully inserted pins, but if needed I just re-insert the pins properly.
now having said that I actually haven't seen any bad ones in a while.

As far as Teflon with gold pins go I have not used those so I don't know if they are better or not and I don't know the mounting hole spacing.

The output tube socket holes are 1.25" and the mounting holes are 1.6"center to center, in case you had something special in mind :scratch2: hmmm...now I'll be up late lookin' at tube sockets :yes:

Congrats! That ought to be the best of both worlds ... Good for ya. Let us know how this one compares with the legacy units. I'm beginning to resurrect my old 45 SET longing ... 1.5 to 2 watts is too little, even for my close range setting, so this one may offer an opportunity to fulfill that dream :scratch2:

I had Teflon tube sockets in 300B amps year ago and there were issues with gripping the tube sockets. I don't recall the manufacturer but it's something to consider.

IMHO, you need 100db + horns for a 45 SET to really sing. I had a Korneff 45 and 98db PHY-HP drivers needed more than the amp could deliver. AA has VOT's and they should work well.

So what is it that Dennis is going to build for you?

While we can use a 45 SET with speakers of 94 dB - I have done so in the past - we encounter its power limitations fairly quickly. I think the standard recommendation of 92dB for an 8 wpc 300B, 95dB for a 2A3, and 100dB for a 45 are spot on. I would even simplify this as 92dB for 5wpc or more and 96 dB for less than 5 wpc.

That being said, there are exceptions. Speakers with very light cones, like Lowther or Coral Beta seem to do well with very low power. Another is the Omega RS5 driver. This 4.5" full range driver is a nominal 94.5dB, but has a superlight 1.8 gram cone and does very well with as little as two watts.