What is the 6080 vacuum tube?

The 6080 (6080 / ECC230) is a triode vacuum tube designed for power/output applications. Workhorse dual power triode. OTL staple..

What is a 6080 substitute or equivalent?

Direct equivalents to the 6080 include 6AS7G, ECC230. These share the same pinout and operating envelope, so they can usually be swapped without circuit changes — though batch-to-batch variations between manufacturers (NOS vs current production) may shift the sonic character noticeably.

What are the key specifications of the 6080?

Amplification factor μ ≈ 2, transconductance gm ≈ 7 mA/V, plate resistance rp ≈ 280 Ω, max plate voltage 250 V, max plate dissipation 13 W, heater 6.3 V / 2.5 A.

Is the 6080 still in production?

Production status varies by year and manufacturer. The current Amperatubes catalog classifies the 6080 as Common availability. NOS (new-old-stock) examples from RCA, Mullard, Tung-Sol, GE, Sylvania and Telefunken trade among collectors; modern production where it exists comes mostly from JJ Electronic, Electro-Harmonix, Tung-Sol (New Sensor), Genalex, and a handful of small-batch makers.

What does the 6080 sound like?

Workhorse dual power triode. OTL staple.. Sonic character also depends heavily on the circuit operating point, the surrounding tubes in the stage, and the output transformer when present — use the interactive loadline calculator on this page to explore the trade-offs.

By Jean-Michel Falligan Devergne · Reviewed May 29, 2026

←6080

← 6072 6111 →Compare → 6AS7G

6080 6080 / ECC230 Triode Vacuum Tube

Dual triode6.3V / 2.5AOctalSPICE

Sourcecap audit 2026-05-09Reviewed2026-05-29StatusDataModelCalcModelAyumi NakabayashiPDF

High-power directly-heated triode for single-ended amplification

Datasheet ↗SPICE

6080 / ECC230 — RCA·GE·Tung-Sol — triode vacuum tube — (1950)

280Ω

7.0mA/V

5.5pF

8.6pF

2.50pF

GAIN2%

POWER33%

DRIVE100%

LINEARITY95%

SPECIFICATIONS

Heater6.3 V · 2.5 A

Max Plate Voltage250 V

Pa max13 W

Gain Factor2

gm7 mA/V

rp280 Ω

Inter-electrode capacitances

Cgk5.5 pF

Cgp8.6 pF

Cpk2.5 pF

PinoutOctal

Era1950

RarityCommon

HEATER6.3V / 2.5A

MAX PLATE250V / 13W

BASEoctal

SECTIONS2 (dual)

Source datasheets

5 manufacturer datasheets cross-checked for 6080 / ECC230

5 verified

TYPICAL OPERATING POINT

Va225V

Ia37.28mA

Vg-116.7184107045V

Pd8.39W

RL600Ω

Av-0.4dB

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The 6080 is a dual indirectly-heated triode from RCA·GE·Tung-Sol, introduced around 1950. It provides a gain factor (μ) of 2 with 280Ω plate resistance. Commonly used in power/output applications. Workhorse dual power triode. OTL staple.

APPLICATIONS

SET outputPush-pull outputHeadphone outputPhase splitter

OTL headphone ampAtma-Sphere M-60

• Hi-Fi stereo• Headphone amp

VS 6AS7G

μ 0%Rp +0%Pd 0%Full comparison →

HISTORY

Introduced1950ManufacturerRCA·GE·Tung-Sol

Golden Age

6080 Datasheet

Local mirror · PDF

↗

METRIX TESTER

Test this tube on a Metrix

SIMILAR TRIODES

View all →

01APreamp 100THTransmitting (SET)101DPower (SET)10YPower (SET)12AT7Driver 12AU7Line / Headphone 12AX7Preamp 12AY7Preamp