What is the PCC88 vacuum tube?

The PCC88 is a triode vacuum tube designed for preamp applications. Series heater E88CC..

What is a PCC88 substitute or equivalent?

Direct equivalents to the PCC88 include 7DJ8. 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 PCC88?

Amplification factor μ ≈ 33, transconductance gm ≈ 12.5 mA/V, plate resistance rp ≈ 2.6 kΩ, max plate voltage 130 V, max plate dissipation 1.8 W, heater 7.6 V / 0.3 A.

Is the PCC88 still in production?

Production status varies by year and manufacturer. The current Amperatubes catalog classifies the PCC88 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 PCC88 sound like?

Series heater E88CC.. 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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PCC88 Triode Vacuum Tube

Triode7.6V / 0.3A9-pin NovalSPICE

SourcePCC88 datasheet · ECC88 familyReviewed2026-05-29StatusDataModelCalcModel3 enginesPDF

Medium-gain triode for driver and line stage applications

Datasheet ↗SPICE

PCC88 — Philips — triode vacuum tube — (1960)

2.6kΩ

12.5mA/V

3.3pF

1.4pF

1.80pF

GAIN33%

POWER5%

DRIVE97%

LINEARITY84%

SPECIFICATIONS

Heater7.6 V · 0.3 A

Max Plate Voltage130 V

Pa max1.8 W

Gain Factor33

gm12.5 mA/V

rp2.6 kΩ

Inter-electrode capacitances

Cgk3.3 pF

Cgp1.4 pF

Cpk1.8 pF

Pinout9-pin Noval

Era1960

RarityModerate

HEATER7.6V / 0.3A

MAX PLATE130V / 1.8W

BASEnoval

Source datasheets

4 manufacturer datasheets cross-checked for PCC88

4 verified

TYPICAL OPERATING POINT

SPICE model(3 available)2 .subckt available ↓

Va60V

Ia3.71mA

Vg-1.5V

Pd0.22W

RL5kΩ

Av24.5dB

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The PCC88 is a indirectly-heated triode from Philips, introduced around 1960. It provides a gain factor (μ) of 33 with 2600Ω plate resistance. Commonly used in preamp applications. Series heater E88CC.

APPLICATIONS

Voltage amplifier

Generic triode preamp stage

• Hi-Fi stereo• Headphone amp

HISTORY

Introduced1960ManufacturerPhilips

Late Production

PCC88 Datasheet

Local mirror · PDF

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METRIX TESTER

Test this tube on a Metrix

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