Korg Nutube 6P1 Dual Triode

  The Korg Nutube 6P1 is a new, miniature, low-power dual directly-heated triode device. It was developed by Korg (of musical instrument fame) and Noritake Itron, a manufacturer of vacuum fluorescent displays, in Japan. Although it is a true directly heated triode, it is manufactured differently than traditional vacuum tubes, which gives it some unique attributes. Electrically, the Nutube 6P1 is somewhat comparable to the battery-powered “hearing aid” tubes. It operates on very low voltages – the filament is rated at 700mV, and plate supply voltages can be as low as 5V. Electrical Characteristics The Nutube is a very low power device – the filament consumes only 12mW of power per triode, and the plate dissipation is rated at only 1.7mW! The consequence of such low power operation is that, compared to most traditional vacuum tubes, it also has quite low transconductance (gm).  Refer to Table 1 for a summary of the electrical specs of the 6P1. Typical Characteristics – Nutube 6P1 (e