Lewm:
Transistors, particularly bipolar, can produce pops and ticks as well. This is called "popcorn noise" and is a form of low frequency thermal noise.
The transistor may function normally otherwise.
Replacement of transistors with leads is not difficult if you have desoldering equipment (not always needed but useful) and you have a suitable replacement. If the transistor is a surface mount chip device, forget it. These require special (and expensive) desoldering tweezers that most folks (or even repair shops) will not have the inclination to buy.
If the popcorn noise is coming from an IC opamp, then you just replace the whole IC. Most are even cheaper than discrete transistors these days.
Transistors, particularly bipolar, can produce pops and ticks as well. This is called "popcorn noise" and is a form of low frequency thermal noise.
The transistor may function normally otherwise.
Replacement of transistors with leads is not difficult if you have desoldering equipment (not always needed but useful) and you have a suitable replacement. If the transistor is a surface mount chip device, forget it. These require special (and expensive) desoldering tweezers that most folks (or even repair shops) will not have the inclination to buy.
If the popcorn noise is coming from an IC opamp, then you just replace the whole IC. Most are even cheaper than discrete transistors these days.