What are the key specifications of the 6DN7?

Amplification factor μ ≈ 15, transconductance gm ≈ 7.7 mA/V, plate resistance rp ≈ 2.0 kΩ, max plate voltage 550 V, max plate dissipation 10 W, heater 6.3 V / 0.9 A.

Is the 6DN7 still in production?

Production status varies by year and manufacturer. The current Amperatubes catalog classifies the 6DN7 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 6DN7 sound like?

Asymmetric octal dual: one high-μ driver unit + one low-μ output unit, both in the same envelope. Bottlehead-community favorite for one-bottle SE designs.. 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.

6DN7 Triode Vacuum Tube

Q: What is the 6DN7 vacuum tube?

The 6DN7 is a triode vacuum tube designed for driver + power applications. Asymmetric octal dual: one high-μ driver unit + one low-μ output unit, both in the same envelope. Bottlehead-community favorite for one-bottle SE designs..

Power triode delivering 10W for push-pull and SET designs

Dual triodeHeater 6.3 V · 0.9 AOctal2 sectionsRCA·GE 1957

Plate dissipation: 10W
Max plate voltage: 550V
Transconductance: 7.7mA/V

6DN7

Characteristics

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

Asymmetric sections — each unit has its own characteristics

Unit 1 — High-μ (driver)

40.0kΩ

1.7mA/V

Pd max2.5W

2.5pF

4.5pF

0.60pF

Unit 2 — Low-μ (output)

4.4

750Ω

5.9mA/V

Pd max7.5W

6.0pF

6.5pF

2.50pF

HeaterIndirectly heated

Specifications of 6DN7 — Heater
Heater voltageVh	6.3 V
Heater currentIh	0.9 A

Limiting valuesDatasheet maximum ratings — not to be exceeded

Specifications of 6DN7 — Limiting values
Plate voltageVa max	550 V
Plate dissipationPa max	10 W

Mechanical

Specifications of 6DN7 — Mechanical
Base	Octal
Rarity	Moderate
Pinout

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, single-endedtriode connection · fixed bias	250 V	-9.5 V	41 mA	7.7 mA/V	15.4		OCR, to be checked RCA · 1959 · p. 1 · transcript
triode connection, single-endedclass not stated · cathode bias	250 V		41 mA	7.7 mA/V	15.4	2 kΩ	OCR, to be checked Tung-Sol Electric Inc. · 1962 · p. 2 · transcript

Using this tube

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

Applications

SET output
Push-pull output
Phase splitter

Generic triode driver + power stage

Hi-Fi stereoHeadphone amp

Replace or compare

Sources

By Jean-Michel Falligan DevergneReviewed May 29, 2026Source : RCA 6DN7 datasheet

Manufacturer datasheets

3 manufacturer datasheets cross-checked for 6DN73 verified

6DN7 DatasheetLocal mirror · PDF

SPICE models

Revision and verification status

Source: RCA 6DN7 datasheet
Reviewed: 2026-05-29
Status: DataModelCalc
Model: under review

Context

The 6DN7 is a dual indirectly-heated triode from RCA·GE, introduced around 1957. It provides a gain factor (μ) of 15 with 2000Ω plate resistance. Commonly used in driver + power applications. Asymmetric octal dual: one high-μ driver unit + one low-μ output unit, both in the same envelope. Bottlehead-community favorite for one-bottle SE designs.

History

Introduced: 1957
Manufacturer: RCA·GE
Era: Golden Age

METRIX TESTER