What is the EC8010 vacuum tube?

The EC8010 is a triode vacuum tube designed for preamp / phono applications. Telecom triode. Half an EC8020. Low Rp dream..

What is a EC8010 substitute or equivalent?

Direct equivalents to the EC8010 include 8556. 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 EC8010?

Amplification factor μ ≈ 60, transconductance gm ≈ 28 mA/V, plate resistance rp ≈ 2.1 kΩ, max plate voltage 200 V, max plate dissipation 4.5 W, heater 6.3 V / 0.28 A.

Is the EC8010 still in production?

Production status varies by year and manufacturer. The current Amperatubes catalog classifies the EC8010 as Rare 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 EC8010 sound like?

Telecom triode. Half an EC8020. Low Rp dream.. 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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EC8010 Triode Vacuum Tube

Triode6.3V / 0.28A9-pin Noval

SourceTelefunken EC8010 datasheet (vinylsavor)Reviewed2026-05-29StatusDataModelCalcModelunder reviewPDF

Medium-gain triode for driver and line stage applications

Datasheet ↗

EC8010 — Philips·Telefunken — triode vacuum tube — (1962)

2.1kΩ

28.0mA/V

7.0pF

1.4pF

0.10pF

GAIN60%

POWER11%

DRIVE98%

LINEARITY70%

SPECIFICATIONS

Heater6.3 V · 0.28 A

Max Plate Voltage200 V

Pa max4.5 W

Gain Factor60

gm28 mA/V

rp2.1 kΩ

Inter-electrode capacitances

Cgk7 pF

Cgp1.4 pF

Cpk0.1 pF

Pinout9-pin Noval

Era1962

RarityRare

HEATER6.3V / 0.28A

MAX PLATE200V / 4.5W

BASEnoval

Source datasheets

2 manufacturer datasheets cross-checked for EC8010

2 verified

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The EC8010 is a indirectly-heated triode from Philips·Telefunken, introduced around 1962. It provides a gain factor (μ) of 60 with 2143Ω plate resistance. Commonly used in preamp / phono applications. Telecom triode. Half an EC8020. Low Rp dream.

APPLICATIONS

Voltage amplifierHigh-gain preampPhono stage

Generic triode preamp / phono stage

• Hi-Fi stereo• Headphone amp• Studio/recording

HISTORY

Introduced1962ManufacturerPhilips·Telefunken

Late Production

EC8010 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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