What is the ECL86-P vacuum tube?

The ECL86-P (ECL86 (Pentode)) is a pentode vacuum tube designed for power applications. Pentode section..

What is a ECL86-P substitute or equivalent?

Direct equivalents to the ECL86-P include 6GW8. 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 ECL86-P?

Amplification factor μ ≈ 21, transconductance gm ≈ 10 mA/V, plate resistance rp ≈ 48.0 kΩ, max plate voltage 300 V, max plate dissipation 9 W, heater 6.3 V / 0.7 A.

Is the ECL86-P still in production?

Production status varies by year and manufacturer. The current Amperatubes catalog classifies the ECL86-P 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 ECL86-P sound like?

Pentode section.. 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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ECL86-P ECL86 (Pentode) Pentode Vacuum Tube

Pentode6.3V / 0.7A9-pin NovalSPICE

SourceECL86/6GW8 pentode datasheet (rec.audio.tubes)Reviewed2026-05-29StatusDataModelCalcModelKoren pentodePDF

Small-signal pentode for low-noise voltage amplification

Datasheet ↗SPICE

ECL86 (Pentode) — Philips — pentode vacuum tube — (1960)

48.0kΩ

10.0mA/V

10.0pF

0.4pF

9.50pF

GAIN21%

POWER23%

DRIVE52%

LINEARITY90%

SPECIFICATIONS

Heater6.3 V · 0.7 A

Max Plate Voltage300 V

Pa max9 W

Gain Factor21

gm10 mA/V

rp48.0 kΩ

Inter-electrode capacitances

Cgk10 pF

Cgp0.4 pF

Cpk9.5 pF

Pinout9-pin Noval

Era1960

RarityCommon

HEATER6.3V / 0.7A

MAX PLATE300V / 9W

BASEnoval

Source datasheets

3 manufacturer datasheets cross-checked for ECL86 (Pentode)

3 verified

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The ECL86-P is a indirectly-heated pentode from Philips, introduced around 1960. It provides a gain factor (μ) of 21 with 48.0kΩ plate resistance. Commonly used in power applications. Pentode section.

HISTORY

Introduced1960ManufacturerPhilips

Late Production

ECL86-P Datasheet

Local mirror · PDF

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METRIX TESTER

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