TO3 transistors sound crap ?

[Bernhard]

Hi,

lots of rumors about bad sounding parts like resistors, caps, that contain iron.

Even the russian teflon caps seem to be not so good because of steel case and leads.

But what about TO3 transistors ?

Steel case, steel leads... sound ?

Nobody worries about that ?

[Fred Dieckmann]

You know all the tube purist that like to spead this Dogma about
magnetic materials never seem to worry about the magnetic materials in vacuum tubes and transformers.

I wonder why ?

[jean-paul]

Not all TO 3 have steel leads. Just checked some I have here and they have tinned copper leads. Case is made of steel or aluminium and that can not be avoided
I don't know about the dogma but in general when I have the choice I choose components with copper leads. After several experiments I can say I hear difference between ferro and non ferro lead wires. Copper wins most of the time as do film caps with copper foil from caps with aluminium foil.

Makes me wonder if the majority of the materials used in tubes is made from ferro metals ? The pins aren't with the older tubes. Although I have a collection of tubes I never bothered to analyse what they're made of besides the outer side being made of glass.

Never saw a transformer with steel wires though, mostly they are wound with copper wire ( or in the exotic types silver )

[stokessd]

So true, without magnetics, you don't have much of a tube amp...Unless you are doing the OTL thing.

Sheldon

[mrfeedback]

Bernhard,
In non-rigourous testing and listening to amplifiers on the repair bench in known conditions and known source equipment and speakers, I reckon that aluminium TO-3 outputs impart a hard and non-relaxing sonic character.
Steel TO-3 outputs ime/imo impart an ok sound, and give that late 70's/eighties big power amplifier 'sound'.
Epoxy encapsulated transistors impart another sonic character imo.
Opamp encapsulation also imparts a sonic character too ime/imo - epoxy, ceramic, TO-5 etc.

Eric.