All 4 Astron pass transistors failed in same way...did I test incorrectly?

[K5_489]

I've had an Astron VM-35M with no output sitting in my "projects to learn troubleshooting the magic parts on" pile for years, and finally started digging in to said pile tonight.    I've read that the pass transistors are a common fail point on these supplies, and since they're easy to get to and remove, I started there. 

I pulled the four NPN 2N3771 TO-3 transistors from the back panel, and went through the checks, using my multimeter set to diode mode.  Positive lead to the first point, negative to the second.  So base to emitter would be positive on base, negative on emitter.  All 4 tested exactly the same, with voltages differing by only a few hundredths one way or the other -

Base to Emitter       - 0.481
Base to Collector    - 0.477
Emitter to Base       - 2.845, with voltage slowly creeping up
Emitter to Collector - 2.466, with voltage slowly creeping down
Collector to Base    - OL
Collector to Emitter - OL

My checklist says the E-B & E-C test should show OL as well, so they appear to be bad.  Is this a case of since they're all in parallel, when one goes it tends to overload the other 3, and they just domino fail?  Or did I test these in an incorrect manner?

[madires]

No, checking the pn junctions in diode mode and looking for shorts is the standard method. But be aware that some BJTs have a base-emitter resistor and/or a flyback diode integrated (there are more special types). And yes, paralleled BJTs often fail together. Happens also in audio amps, for example.