How do you test transistors?

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Everyone says to test the transistors on a broke amp because they are usually the culprit. I see that some people desoder them first and some people don't. Some people say you can use a multimeter and some say you need other tools. My amplifer is broken but nothing is physically damaged. Could someone point me in the right direction?
 
If you don't have a transistor or diode tester, you could easily use an ohmmeter on your multimeter. You need to make sure that if it is a bipolar or FET tranistor. Bipolar tranistors could either be NPN or PNP. FET's could be JFET's, MOSFET's, etc... Most commonly amplifiers use NPN tranistors or modern amplifiers use MOSFET's N-channels I think. Oh yea, there are two types of MOSFET's N-channel, and P-channel. The gate to source and drain on an ohmeter should read about 35ohms(varies on each transitor). Drain to source should have continuity. It would be easier to check out bcae1, great website if your getting into electronics and/or car audio.
 
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