I am not much of a "poster", but this thread has had my close attention. I
guess even though I have been hamming for over 60yrs, I had somehow grown to
believe that speakers for voice communication or CW, for that matter, were very
NON- critical. In recent years I have come to a very much DIFFERENT opinion.
For close to 10yrs my 2m SSB rig was an Icom 746Pro. I loved the audio out of
that rig. It had a 2m SSB only TX issue that Icom could not resolve after
multiple trips back for repair. I sold it and bought a Kenwood TS2000. Swapped
the rigs out and was dismayed at how horrible the rec audio sounded out of the
2000. That was with the same Motorola 2way speaker that I had used for years
with the 746Pro! I mean horrible! I have quite a collection of the Motorola
speakers and trying them one at a time, I found one that I could live with, not
quite as good as the Pro but ok. Boy that 2000 was fussy about speakers.
Fall of 2009 when I added a K3 to the operating position, I found a similar
"fussyness", when it came to speaker selection. I was NOT satisfied with the
Motorola speaker that I had used happily with a IC-735 for many years. Speaker
selection seem "critical" just like the 2000. That coupled with how one sets
the Shift/ Width/Hi-Low cut make huge differences in the way the radio sounds
(obvious). Huge variability with the Shift/ Width/Hi-Low combined with mode and
filter. WE HAVE CONTROL of these variables, they are not predetermined. I can
make the K3 unpleasant to listen to with some combinations, no question.
Last month a K3s entered the picture and again I was trying about every
speaker I had. Trying to find one that sounded as good as the K3 / Motorola
speaker combo. None of my Motorola speakers came close. In the end I found a
speaker from a failed power speaker system that I had relegated to the garage.
I very much like the sound of that speaker and the K3s.
I use RX equalization AFTER I find a speaker that I can live with. I know
that in this time of my life, my ears are not what they were decades ago. I
suspect that not only do I have known losses, but I may have certain frequency
ranges that may be ANNOYING as well.
I know back in my HiFi / Stereo days with vacuum tube amplifiers, speaker
selection was pretty simple for me. When I transitioned to solid state amps,
not so much.
To anyone who dislikes the sound of your K3 or K3s, my experience is try LOTs
of different speakers. I saw huge differences, not subtle, but HUGE. I'll bet
you can find one that will work satisfactorily. These solid state AF amplifiers
just may be more fussy about that transducer that is attached than what some of
us would expect.
73 Bill K0AWU
From: ke9uw <c-haw...@illinois.edu>
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2016 8:30 AM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3S audio board for K3 upgrade?
I had a 480 and did not care for the sort of pinched up audio compared to say
the 850.
I am using a couple of 6 by 9 speakers in enclosures on the K3, one on each
side of the stereo and the sound is just fine. As they say, opinions vary
and have so many variables like speakers, what/how/where you operate,
physical hearing anomalies, etc. that audio reviews are just about useless.
-----
Chuck, KE9UW
--
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