What is the 6DE7 vacuum tube?

The 6DE7 is a triode vacuum tube designed for driver + power applications. Dissimilar dual. Medium mu driver + power..

What is a 6DE7 substitute or equivalent?

Direct equivalents to the 6DE7 include 10DE7, 13DE7. 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 6DE7?

Amplification factor μ ≈ 17, transconductance gm ≈ 5 mA/V, plate resistance rp ≈ 3.4 kΩ, max plate voltage 330 V, max plate dissipation 7 W, heater 6.3 V / 0.9 A.

Is the 6DE7 still in production?

Production status varies by year and manufacturer. The current Amperatubes catalog classifies the 6DE7 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 6DE7 sound like?

Dissimilar dual. Medium mu driver + power.. 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

←6DE7

← 6CY7 6DJ8 →Compare…

6DE7 Triode Vacuum Tube

Dual triode6.3V / 0.9A9-pin Noval

SourceSylvania·RCAReviewed2026-05-29StatusDataModelCalcModelunder reviewPDF

Medium-gain triode for driver and line stage applications

Datasheet ↗

6DE7 — Sylvania·RCA — triode vacuum tube — (1958)

3.4kΩ

5.0mA/V

3.0pF

2.0pF

1.80pF

GAIN17%

POWER18%

DRIVE97%

LINEARITY92%

SPECIFICATIONS

Heater6.3 V · 0.9 A

Max Plate Voltage330 V

Pa max7 W

Gain Factor17

gm5 mA/V

rp3.4 kΩ

Inter-electrode capacitances

Cgk3 pF

Cgp2 pF

Cpk1.8 pF

Pinout9-pin Noval

Era1958

RarityCommon

HEATER6.3V / 0.9A

MAX PLATE330V / 7W

BASEnoval

SECTIONS2 (dual)

Source datasheets

4 manufacturer datasheets cross-checked for 6DE7

4 verified

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The 6DE7 is a dual indirectly-heated triode from Sylvania·RCA, introduced around 1958. It provides a gain factor (μ) of 17 with 3400Ω plate resistance. Commonly used in driver + power applications. Dissimilar dual. Medium mu driver + power.

APPLICATIONS

Push-pull outputPhase splitter

Generic triode driver + power stage

• Hi-Fi stereo

HISTORY

Introduced1958ManufacturerSylvania·RCA

Golden Age

6DE7 Datasheet

Local mirror · PDF

↗

METRIX TESTER

Test this tube on a Metrix

SPICE model not yet available. Loadline calculator requires calibrated Koren parameters.

SIMILAR TRIODES

View all →

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