Being a VHF tube is no bar (ECC88, for example, has been used in many successful designs). But the ECC85 doesn't bring anything special to the audio table. An ECC81, for example, will have similar mu and gm, but has better linearity in voltage amplifiers and is readily available (still in production).
With some effort, one could use the ECC85 in a reasonably good preamp, but why bother?
With some effort, one could use the ECC85 in a reasonably good preamp, but why bother?
ECC85 is essentially an ECC81 on an ECC88-like base. NOS is more expensive than many ECC81, and I don't think anyone is still making it. Best to leave ECC85 for all the 1950s FM radios which use it, unless you really need an inter-section screen.
Good continue to tell how bad ECC85 is then I get them for myself. If you want one tube that is more linear instead of ECC85, you can use the 6N1P.
Anders
Anders
Please don't waste the ECC85 for any line level use. All my valve FM radios need them. Later productions from the Eastern Bloc sometime do not work and these AM/FM sets eats them quite fast.
Ray
Ray
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It makes an even more better Cascode stage ! 🙂
Yep, nothing further to add to ! From time to time I'm restoring old radios and the ECC85 is essential in most FM Tuners. Please use ECC81, it's basically the same valve ! The same counts for ECC84, ECC804, ECC807 etc. which are rare and needed as spares for existing commercial products. There are soooo many other double triodes you could use, please do so.
It makes an even more better Cascode stage ! 🙂
Yep, nothing further to add to ! From time to time I'm restoring old radios and the ECC85 is essential in most FM Tuners. Please use ECC81, it's basically the same valve ! The same counts for ECC84, ECC804, ECC807 etc. which are rare and needed as spares for existing commercial products. There are soooo many other double triodes you could use, please do so.
I don't know if there are any Luxman fans out there but look at just about any Luxman power amp you'll find at least one ECC85/6AQ8 in the circuit.
Craig
Craig
Hello...
Can I use alternatives to ecc85 in phillips capella 673?
I have 6n1p sometimes it is mentioned as possible alternatives, and sometimes not.
Please help.
There is also this mention, but it is on german, as far i can understand , it is possible to use them as replacement.
http://www.radiomuseum.org/tubes/tube_6n1p.html
Can I use alternatives to ecc85 in phillips capella 673?
I have 6n1p sometimes it is mentioned as possible alternatives, and sometimes not.
Please help.
There is also this mention, but it is on german, as far i can understand , it is possible to use them as replacement.
http://www.radiomuseum.org/tubes/tube_6n1p.html
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I tried once to replace ECC85 with 6n1p and it worked quite well.
The sensitivity dropped a bit, but the local oscillator was exactly at the same frequency
I did not want to fine tune the tuner circuits, but obviously this could improve the lost sensitivity.
You can try if it works on Philips Capella or not.
The sensitivity dropped a bit, but the local oscillator was exactly at the same frequency
I did not want to fine tune the tuner circuits, but obviously this could improve the lost sensitivity.
You can try if it works on Philips Capella or not.
Thanks a lot!
Just want to be sure.
Of course, first I would have to find out if this tube actually works, since I literally found it near the dumpster.It looks totally new though.
Just want to be sure.
Of course, first I would have to find out if this tube actually works, since I literally found it near the dumpster.It looks totally new though.
6N3P could be a substitute for ECC85 too, but you have to swap some socket wires to fit. I think electrically 6N3P is more aproppiate to ECC85 than 6N1P.
To change ECC85 to 6N3P or 5670 in FM-tuner is bad idea.
All together 5 pins of 9 must be rewired.
In such circuits working at 100 MHz, the lay-out is quite critical and lead lengths has a big effect to overal operation.
I would not even think about this modification.
In case of audio frequency this would be a simple task.
All together 5 pins of 9 must be rewired.
In such circuits working at 100 MHz, the lay-out is quite critical and lead lengths has a big effect to overal operation.
I would not even think about this modification.
In case of audio frequency this would be a simple task.
artosalo maybe you are right about rewiring of the socket, but I`ve seen a lot of russian tube radios having 6N3P in their FM front end stage.
In audio could work almost any RF tube if the design is made accordingly with that tube's characteristics.
In audio could work almost any RF tube if the design is made accordingly with that tube's characteristics.
The basic reason is that the ECC85 is a variable transconductance tube. This means its transconductance is dependent of the grid bias, and this behavior is used for AGC circuit in VHF/UHF tuners. For audio we need (relatively) constant transconductance for minimizing the distortion of the stage.
6N3P is the most typical tube used in Soviet radios as FM-tuner and works well.
But because it has different pin-out, it is not a good replacement for ECC85.
If I had no ECC85 to replace, I would try 6N1P and make the re-adjustment of the first IF-transformer, as suggested here: 6n1p, Tube 6n1p; Röhre 6n1p ID18834, Double Triode
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