What is the 5V6 vacuum tube?

The 5V6 is a tetrode vacuum tube designed for power applications. 5V heater 6V6..

What is a 5V6 substitute or equivalent?

Direct equivalents to the 5V6 include 6V6. 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 5V6?

Amplification factor μ ≈ 10, transconductance gm ≈ 4.1 mA/V, plate resistance rp ≈ 50.0 kΩ, max plate voltage 315 V, max plate dissipation 12 W, heater 4.7 V / 0.6 A.

Is the 5V6 still in production?

Production status varies by year and manufacturer. The current Amperatubes catalog classifies the 5V6 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 5V6 sound like?

5V heater 6V6.. 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.

5V6 Tetrode Vacuum Tube

Also known as 6V6

Beam power tetrode rated at 12W for high-power output stages

TetrodeHeater 4.7 V · 0.6 AOctalRCA 1950

Plate dissipation: 12W
Max plate voltage: 315V
Transconductance: 4.1mA/V

5V6

Characteristics

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

HeaterIndirectly heated

Specifications of 5V6 — Heater
Heater voltageVh	4.7 V
Heater currentIh	0.6 A

Limiting valuesDatasheet maximum ratings — not to be exceeded

Specifications of 5V6 — Limiting values
Plate voltageVa max	315 V
Plate dissipationPa max	12 W

Mechanical

Specifications of 5V6 — Mechanical
Base	Octal
Rarity	Moderate
Pinout

Small signalDatasheet parameters at the reference operating point — not limits

Specifications of 5V6 — Small signal
Transconductance	4.1 mA/V
Plate resistance	50 kΩ
Amplification factor	10

Capacitances

Specifications of 5V6 — Capacitances
Input	9 pF
Grid–plate	0.7 pF
Output	7.5 pF

Charactereditorial reading, not a measurement

Specifications of 5V6 — Character
Gain	10%
Power	30%
Drive	50%
Linearity	95%

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

Typical operation

Conditions published by the manufacturers, one row per condition. Nothing is computed.

Typical operation
Setup	Va	Vg1 / Rk	Ia	gm	μ	rp	Source
Class A, push-pulltriode connection · fixed bias	250 V	-12.5 V	49.5 mA	5 mA/V	9.8	2 kΩ	OCR, to be checked Tung-Sol · 1954 · p. 2 · transcript

Using this tube

Replace or compare

Sources

By Jean-Michel Falligan DevergneReviewed May 29, 2026Source : datasheet4u 5V6 / 6V6 familyActive model : Koren pentode

Manufacturer datasheets

2 manufacturer datasheets cross-checked for 5V62 verified

5V6 DatasheetLocal mirror · PDF

SPICE models

Revision and verification status

Source: datasheet4u 5V6 / 6V6 family
Reviewed: 2026-05-29
Status: DataModelCalc
Model: Koren pentode

Context

The 5V6 is a indirectly-heated beam tetrode from RCA, introduced around 1950. It provides a gain factor (μ) of 10 with 50.0kΩ plate resistance. Commonly used in power applications. 5V heater 6V6.

History

Introduced: 1950
Manufacturer: RCA
Era: Golden Age

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