What is the EL803 vacuum tube?

The EL803 is a pentode vacuum tube designed for power applications. Audio output pentode..

What is a EL803 substitute or equivalent?

Direct equivalents to the EL803 include None. 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 EL803?

Amplification factor μ ≈ 22, transconductance gm ≈ 10.5 mA/V, plate resistance rp ≈ 60.0 kΩ, max plate voltage 250 V, max plate dissipation 9 W, heater 6.3 V / 0.65 A.

Is the EL803 still in production?

Production status varies by year and manufacturer. The current Amperatubes catalog classifies the EL803 as Moderate 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 EL803 sound like?

Audio output 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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EL803 Pentode Vacuum Tube

Pentode6.3V / 0.65A9-pin Noval

Sourceaudit-eu_b (CLEAN — matches canonical datasheet)Reviewed2026-05-29StatusDataModelCalcModelunder reviewPDF

Small-signal pentode for low-noise voltage amplification

Datasheet ↗

EL803 — Valvo — pentode vacuum tube — (1958)

60.0kΩ

10.5mA/V

10.4pF

0.1pF

8.00pF

GAIN22%

POWER23%

DRIVE40%

LINEARITY89%

SPECIFICATIONS

Heater6.3 V · 0.65 A

Max Plate Voltage250 V

Pa max9 W

Gain Factor22

gm10.5 mA/V

rp60.0 kΩ

Inter-electrode capacitances

Cgk10.4 pF

Cgp0.12 pF

Cpk8 pF

Pinout9-pin Noval

Era1958

RarityModerate

HEATER6.3V / 0.65A

MAX PLATE250V / 9W

BASEnoval

Source datasheets

1 manufacturer datasheets cross-checked for EL803

1 verified

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The EL803 is a indirectly-heated pentode from Valvo, introduced around 1958. It provides a gain factor (μ) of 22 with 60.0kΩ plate resistance. Commonly used in power applications. Audio output pentode.

HISTORY

Introduced1958ManufacturerValvo

Golden Age

EL803 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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