[Elecraft] K2 vs. Drake 2B - New vs. classic.

[N2EY at aol.com]

Various quotes about K2 audio quality:

> Bad:  The tone of the 2B is noticeably smoother and purer than the K2. 

> 
>  Sometimes all CW sigs seem to 
> have a harsh tone and then you tune into another station that is a pure 
> note, very odd.  Also the chirpy signals seem to be a nice note, albeit 
> varying.  
> 


There's a whole bunch of things going on.

First off, the speaker, as others have pointed out. It's a big factor, if for 
no other reason than the little speaker in the K2 and the last audio stages 
may be working much harder to reach the same audio level as the 2B. The only 
way to approach a fair comparison is to use the same speaker for both.

Second, many humans find the kind of distortion generated by tube audio to be 
less unpleasant than that generated by SS amps. Even if the tube amp creates 
more distortion, it may be of a kind that is less bothersome. 

Third, the oscillators in the 2B are all LC or xtal, and the filtering all 
LC. This produces slightly different characteristics than the crystal filtering 
and PLL oscillators of the K2.

Fourth - and I don't mean to insult anyone - but it should be remembered that 
all of this is subjective. That doesn't mean it's "right" or "wrong", just 
that someone may like A and not like B. Add to that the fact that any of us 
making the test may be influenced by knowing which rig is which. 

Fifth and last: It should be remembered that the 2B was basically an SSB 
receiver. (Its immediate predecessor, the 2A, did not even have 500 Hz filtering). 
The K2 is basically a CW transceiver. The basic K2 sells for just under $600, 
while the basic 2B sold for a bit under $300 way back 40+ years ago. Adjust 
the 2B's cost for inflation, and it's well over the cost of a fully loaded 
K2/100.

73 de Jim, N2EY



Second,