What is the EF184 vacuum tube?

The EF184 (EF184 / 6EJ7) is a pentode vacuum tube designed for preamp / rf applications. High-Gm sharp cutoff pentode..

What is a EF184 substitute or equivalent?

Direct equivalents to the EF184 include 6EJ7. 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 EF184?

Amplification factor μ ≈ 60, transconductance gm ≈ 15 mA/V, plate resistance rp ≈ 380.0 kΩ, max plate voltage 250 V, max plate dissipation 2.5 W, heater 6.3 V / 0.3 A.

Is the EF184 still in production?

Production status varies by year and manufacturer. The current Amperatubes catalog classifies the EF184 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 EF184 sound like?

High-Gm sharp cutoff pentode.. 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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EF184 EF184 / 6EJ7 Pentode Vacuum Tube

Pentode6.3V / 0.3A9-pin Noval

SourcePhilips EF184 datasheetReviewed2026-05-29StatusDataModelCalcModelunder reviewPDF

Small-signal pentode for low-noise voltage amplification

Datasheet ↗

EF184 / 6EJ7 — Philips — pentode vacuum tube — (1960)

380.0kΩ

15.0mA/V

10.0pF

0.0pF

3.00pF

GAIN60%

POWER6%

DRIVE0%

LINEARITY70%

SPECIFICATIONS

Heater6.3 V · 0.3 A

Max Plate Voltage250 V

Pa max2.5 W

Gain Factor60

gm15 mA/V

rp380.0 kΩ

Inter-electrode capacitances

Cgk10 pF

Cgp0.0055 pF

Cpk3 pF

Pinout9-pin Noval

Era1960

RarityCommon

HEATER6.3V / 0.3A

MAX PLATE250V / 2.5W

BASEnoval

Source datasheets

3 manufacturer datasheets cross-checked for EF184 / 6EJ7

3 verified

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The EF184 is a indirectly-heated pentode from Philips, introduced around 1960. It provides a gain factor (μ) of 60 with 380.0kΩ plate resistance. Commonly used in preamp / rf applications. High-Gm sharp cutoff pentode.

APPLICATIONS

Voltage amplifier

Generic pentode preamp / rf stage

HISTORY

Introduced1960ManufacturerPhilips

Late Production

EF184 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.

SIMILAR PENTODES

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