[AsuAmo76]

There were multiple posts on opamps - which one sounds better and how the sound is different and more and more.

But what about low power transistors for output stages? Kevin Gilmore used 2sc1815 and 2sa1015 in his (see headwize) design. Do they give the best sound? Are there any good alternatives? I just don't know which bjt or fet to choose. Sure I can continue living with regular low cost npn from local shop, but I guess I can find far better.

edit: 2sj107 and 2sj108 look very good according to their specs.

Confused. Any help?

Couple more questions:

- is sound from germanium transistors different or basically the same?
- I used to read that n-channel fet sounds better than p-channel. Is it the same for bjt?

 

[Garbz]

I find the sound from various transistors very insignificant on the grand scheme of things. It's no where near as much of a difference as different opamps make. Afterall opamps use different circuit designs which contribute to their sound.

Transistors should be picked to be as linear as possible in the area in which they operate. I am not quite sure how to pick this it is just some idle information I picked up somewhere. I have often used the gilmore transistors inspace of generic 2n2222 or similar transistors for audio followers mainly because I still have so many left over.

 

[AsuAmo76]

I guess it's still better to avoid rf and switching transistors, but I never critically tested them.

 

[Pars]

I would disagree in my experience. I built up 3 sets of Mono's modified Sijosae buffers (BUF634 replacements) for a Pimeta. One set I built with generic 2N2907/2N (most common generic NPN, escapes me right now, and that is bad <g>). Next set I built with pretty-well matched 2SA1015/2SC1815 (Gilmore dynalo) transistors. The third I built with the spec'd BC327/337s. The third was the best, although the Gilmore versions were pretty close, but still noticeably inferior (but I could have lived with them). It wasn't even close on the generic 2N type build... much grainier, less refined sound. The others were IMO preferable to the BUF634s by a wide enough margin (BUF634 single with 220 ohm BW resistors). And I liked them better than stacked (2x) BUFs.

Search for some of the diamond buffer threads... they have some pretty good subjective comments regarding transistors and their sound (and I'm not really a subjectivist, BTW).

 

[thedoctor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pars I would disagree in my experience. I built up 3 sets of Mono's modified Sijosae buffers (BUF634 replacements) for a Pimeta. One set I built with generic 2N2907/2N (most common generic NPN, escapes me right now, and that is bad <g>). Next set I built with pretty-well matched 2SA1015/2SC1815 (Gilmore dynalo) transistors. The third I built with the spec'd BC327/337s. The third was the best, although the Gilmore versions were pretty close, but still noticeably inferior (but I could have lived with them). It wasn't even close on the generic 2N type build... much grainier, less refined sound. The others were IMO preferable to the BUF634s by a wide enough margin (BUF634 single with 220 ohm BW resistors). And I liked them better than stacked (2x) BUFs. Search for some of the diamond buffer threads... they have some pretty good subjective comments regarding transistors and their sound (and I'm not really a subjectivist, BTW).

quite the same with my subjective results. i've tried quite a few designs with different components and found them to give better improvement than just swapping the Opamp.

up till now, i've tried Sijosae's Simplified Diamond Buffers and Sijosae's Discreet Class AB Buffers with BC327/BC337, 2N5087/2N5088, 2N3904/2N3906 and also built me quite a few PPA v2 with those 3 transistors in the current mirrors and BD135/BD136, BD137/BD138, BD139/BD140 just to get a taste of how different pairs affect the sound. and they did affect the sound...quite a lot.