What is the CV808 vacuum tube?

The CV808 is a triode vacuum tube designed for preamp applications. Military ECC83..

What is a CV808 substitute or equivalent?

Direct equivalents to the CV808 include ECC83 (mil). 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 CV808?

Amplification factor μ ≈ 15, transconductance gm ≈ 2.6 mA/V, plate resistance rp ≈ 5.8 kΩ, max plate voltage 150 V, max plate dissipation 1 W, heater 1.4 V / 0.22 A.

Is the CV808 still in production?

Production status varies by year and manufacturer. The current Amperatubes catalog classifies the CV808 as Sought-after 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 CV808 sound like?

Military ECC83.. 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

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CV808 Triode Vacuum Tube

Dual triode1.4V / 0.22A9-pin Noval

SourceMullardReviewed2026-05-29StatusDataModelCalcModelunder reviewPDF

Medium-gain triode for driver and line stage applications

Datasheet ↗

CV808 — Mullard — triode vacuum tube — (1955)

5.8kΩ

2.6mA/V

0.9pF

3.2pF

1.00pF

GAIN15%

POWER3%

DRIVE94%

LINEARITY93%

SPECIFICATIONS

Heater1.4 V · 0.22 A

Max Plate Voltage150 V

Pa max1 W

Gain Factor15

gm2.6 mA/V

rp5.8 kΩ

Inter-electrode capacitances

Cgk0.9 pF

Cgp3.2 pF

Cpk1 pF

Pinout9-pin Noval

Era1955

RaritySought-after

HEATER1.4V / 0.22A

MAX PLATE150V / 1W

BASEnoval

SECTIONS2 (dual)

Source datasheets

1 manufacturer datasheets cross-checked for CV808

1 verified

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The CV808 is a dual indirectly-heated triode from Mullard, introduced around 1955. It provides a gain factor (μ) of 15 with 5769Ω plate resistance. Commonly used in preamp applications. Military ECC83.

APPLICATIONS

Voltage amplifierLine stagePhase splitter

Generic triode preamp stage

• Hi-Fi stereo• Headphone amp

HISTORY

Introduced1955ManufacturerMullard

Golden Age

CV808 Datasheet

Local mirror · PDF

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METRIX TESTER

Test this tube on a Metrix

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

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