ECC82

[BJK]

Ecc82

I have a few tubes that are marked ECC82 Made in western
Germany. That was all I could read off them. They have plain gray plates with top getters.
Would anyone have some insight as to what plant made them, ect.
Thanks

 

[edl]

Hi BJK,

That's an indirectly heated double triode for audio purpouses.
A plenty of commercially made and DIY-project amplifer using them as driver, or sometimes as preamp tube.
Many tubefactory manufactured and manufacturing this tube.
In the USA it's called 12AU7.
Datasheet can be found here: http://frank.pocnet.net

All the best,

 

[Tom Bavis]

Diamond in glass between pins (often faint) - Telefunken.

Etched code on side near base? Valvo (Philips)

Could be Eastern European, despite marking.

 

[EC8010]

Mullard's ECC82 data sheet says that it's designed for television field scan, Tung-Sol's 12AU7 data sheet says it's designed for audio.

 

[anatech]

Hi EC8010,
Soooo, does that mean you should buy the ones made in North America? 😉

-Chris

 

[EC8010]

Hello Anatech. Well, I suppose it depends on whether you think that 12AU7 is really identical to ECC82 or merely equivalent (drop-in usable). Perhaps 12AU7 is OK for audio - we don't see a lot of American toobs in Europe unless we specifically order them (and pay Customs charges on top of shipping), so I can't comment. It's as well to remember that it only takes a tiny difference on the curves to make a big difference to distortion, so two valves could be equivalent as far as gross characteristics are concerned yet wildly different when second-order characteristics like distortion are investigated.

 

[anatech]

Hi EC8010,
Well, I was pulling your leg. But you do bring up an excellent point where tube "equivalents" are concerned. I imagine a similar difference exists between manufacturers. Then it becomes whatever the designer used as a "bogey" tube model as to what tube is the best for a particular circuit.

Personal preferences will muddy that water up forever.

-Chris