6AV6

6AV6 is also designated EBC91. Completed sales put the typical price at $12.00 per tube.

Description

The 6AV6 is a miniature duplex-diode, high-mu triode intended primarily for use as a combined detector, amplifier, and automatic-volume-control tube in radio receivers. The triode section incorporates a high amplification factor and is capable of providing a relatively large undistorted output voltage from a very small input signal. The tube has a coated unipotential cathode and a T-5½ glass envelope.

Heater and Ratings

The 6AV6 heater is rated at 6.3 volts AC or DC and draws 0.3 amperes. The 3AV6, 6AV6, and 12AV6 are alike except for heater ratings and heater-cathode voltage ratings. The 12AV6 is particularly suited for use in a-c/d-c radio receivers. The 3AV6, as a result of its controlled heater warm-up characteristic, is especially well suited for use in television receivers which employ series-connected heaters; when used in conjunction with other 600-milliampere types exhibiting essentially the same heater warm-up characteristic, heater voltage surges across the individual tubes are minimized during the warm-up period.

Construction

The 6AV6 uses an E7-1 Miniature Button 7-Pin base and may be mounted in any position. Pin 1 connects to the triode grid, pin 2 to the cathode, pins 3 and 4 to the heater, pin 5 to diode number 2 plate, pin 6 to diode number 1 plate, and pin 7 to the triode plate.

Electrical Characteristics

At a plate voltage of 100 volts and grid voltage of -1 volt, the triode section exhibits an amplification factor of 100, a plate resistance of approximately 800,000 ohms, a transconductance of 250 micromhos, and a plate current of 0.5 milliamperes. At a plate voltage of 250 volts and grid voltage of -2 volts, the amplification factor is 100, the plate resistance is approximately 62,500 ohms, the transconductance is 1600 micromhos, and the plate current is 1.2 milliamperes. With 10 volts DC applied, the average diode current for each diode is 2.0 milliamperes.

Capacitances

With shield, the triode grid-to-plate capacitance is 2.0 μμf, the triode input capacitance is 2.2 μμf, and the triode output capacitance is 1.2 μμf; without shield, the triode output capacitance is 0.8 μμf. The maximum grid-to-diode-number 2 plate capacitance is 0.04 μμf.

Equivalence is asserted only where the archive's own literature states it directly, in at least 40 separate documents. Tubes that merely substitute in some circuits are not listed here.

Same design, different filament voltage. Not interchangeable with 6AV6: 12AV6.

Per-tube prices from completed sales, 2026-08-15 to 2026-09-21. Matched pairs and quads are divided out. See the price index for how these move over time.

Original manufacturer datasheets for 6AV6, hosted by Frank Philipse's Electron Tube Data sheets.

Documents held here and used to write this page.

• EBC91 (filed under EBC91)
• 6AV6—3AV6—12AV6 DUPLEX-DIODE TRIODE