What is the 1614 vacuum tube?

The 1614 is a tetrode vacuum tube designed for power (pp) applications. Cherry-picked metal 6L6. McIntosh MC-30..

What is a 1614 substitute or equivalent?

Direct equivalents to the 1614 include 6L6 (selected). 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 1614?

Transconductance gm ≈ 6.05 mA/V, max plate voltage 550 V, max plate dissipation 25 W, heater 6.3 V / 0.9 A.

Is the 1614 still in production?

Production status varies by year and manufacturer. The current Amperatubes catalog classifies the 1614 as Sought-after 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 1614 sound like?

Cherry-picked metal 6L6. McIntosh MC-30.. 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.

1614 Tetrode Vacuum Tube

Also known as 6L6 (selected)

Beam power tetrode rated at 25W for high-power output stages

TetrodeHeater 6.3 V · 0.9 AOctalRCA·GE 1942

Plate dissipation: 25W
Max plate voltage: 550V
Transconductance: 6.05mA/V

1614

Characteristics

Datasheet values, once each. Every value cites its sheet.

HeaterIndirectly heated

Specifications of 1614 — Heater
Heater voltageVh	6.3 V
Heater currentIh	0.9 A

Limiting valuesDatasheet maximum ratings — not to be exceeded

Specifications of 1614 — Limiting values
Plate voltageVa max	550 V
Plate dissipationPa max	25 W

Mechanical

Specifications of 1614 — Mechanical
Base	Octal
Rarity	Sought-after
Pinout

Small signalDatasheet parameters at the reference operating point — not limits

Specifications of 1614 — Small signal
Transconductance	6.05 mA/V

Capacitances

Specifications of 1614 — Capacitances
Input	10 pF
Grid–plate	0.4 pF
Output	12 pF

Charactereditorial reading, not a measurement

Specifications of 1614 — Character
Gain	0%
Power	63%
Drive	50%
Linearity	75%

datasheet cited · model or editorial reading · catalogue value, no citation attached yet · nothing invented

Using this tube

Interactive loadline calculator not available for this tube yet — it needs calibrated Koren or Ayumi parameters.

Applications

High-power output

Generic tetrode power (pp) stage

Replace or compare

Sources

By Jean-Michel Falligan DevergneReviewed May 29, 2026

Manufacturer datasheets

1 manufacturer datasheets cross-checked for 16141 verified

1614 DatasheetLocal mirror · PDF

SPICE models

Revision and verification status

Source: RCA·GE
Reviewed: 2026-05-29
Status: DataModelCalc
Model: under review

Context

The 1614 is a indirectly-heated beam tetrode from RCA·GE, introduced around 1942. Commonly used in power (pp) applications. Cherry-picked metal 6L6. McIntosh MC-30.

History

Introduced: 1942
Manufacturer: RCA·GE
Era: Pre-War

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