What is the PCL84-P vacuum tube?

The PCL84-P (PCL84 (Pentode)) is a triode vacuum tube designed for power applications. Series-heater pentode..

What is a PCL84-P substitute or equivalent?

Direct equivalents to the PCL84-P 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 PCL84-P?

Amplification factor μ ≈ 36, transconductance gm ≈ 11 mA/V, plate resistance rp ≈ 3.3 kΩ, max plate voltage 250 V, max plate dissipation 4 W, heater 15 V / 0.3 A.

Is the PCL84-P still in production?

Production status varies by year and manufacturer. The current Amperatubes catalog classifies the PCL84-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 PCL84-P sound like?

Series-heater 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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PCL84-P PCL84 (Pentode) Triode Vacuum Tube

Triode15V / 0.3A9-pin NovalSPICE

SourcePCL84/15DQ8 datasheet (DIYaudio)Reviewed2026-05-29StatusDataModelCalcModelKoren pentodePDF

Medium-gain triode for driver and line stage applications

Datasheet ↗SPICE

PCL84 (Pentode) — Philips — triode vacuum tube — (1960)

3.3kΩ

11.0mA/V

8.7pF

0.1pF

4.20pF

GAIN36%

POWER10%

DRIVE97%

LINEARITY82%

SPECIFICATIONS

Heater15 V · 0.3 A

Max Plate Voltage250 V

Pa max4 W

Gain Factor36

gm11 mA/V

rp3.3 kΩ

Inter-electrode capacitances

Cgk8.7 pF

Cgp0.1 pF

Cpk4.2 pF

Pinout9-pin Noval

Era1960

RarityCommon

HEATER15V / 0.3A

MAX PLATE250V / 4W

BASEnoval

Source datasheets

5 manufacturer datasheets cross-checked for PCL84 (Pentode)

5 verified

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The PCL84-P is a indirectly-heated triode from Philips, introduced around 1960. It provides a gain factor (μ) of 36 with 3273Ω plate resistance. Commonly used in power applications. Series-heater pentode.

HISTORY

Introduced1960ManufacturerPhilips

Late Production

PCL84-P Datasheet

Local mirror · PDF

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