nw_audiophile,
I have checked Borbelys website and I cannot find him mentioning
these transistors anywhere. In those cases he uses BJTs for the
VAS he seems to use japanese devices, so probably he doesn't
use the 2N devices anymore, as you suggested.
BTW, I realized much later that I had posted in the entirely wrong
forum (was probably too tired when posting) so I reposted in
the appropriate forum since nobody had answered. Then people
started to reply to the first post, in the wrong forum!!
Fred,
I assume the double negation was unintentional. I suppose you
are right about most 2N devices being ancient. I always get a
feeling that those popping up in designs every now and then
are types that have been around for ages. I also know that
there has been a lot of discussion about transistor choice for
VAS's and that japanese ones are usually the preferred choice.
I did not expect the 2N3440/5416 to be better, or as good as,
obvious japanese choices, like the ones I mentioned, and had
planned to use japanese ones instead. However, I don't like
the idea of just replacing transistors in a design without having
enough data to know if a slight redesign, like modifying resistor
values, is necessary. For instance, the Vbe figure given suggests
that these 2N devices may have higher Vbe than most other
similar transistors. An Ic vs. Vbe diagram for non-saturated
case would have been useful in the datasheet, for instance,
but maybe it is just my ignorance finding such info helpful?
Anything in favour of 2N3440/2N5416 ??
), or I can send to you few samples of 3439 and 5416, for free, of course. 
