[Elecraft] K3: vs a Collins S-line RX

[david Moes]

  I have a rig that has many similarities to the Collins KWM-2.   The 
KW2000b made by KW Electronics in Great Britain is often compared to the 
Collins as it shares many similarities in design.    It too has a 
mechanical filter  and very similar audio amp.     Is the best sounding 
SSB rig I have (wish I had a Collins).  with  wonderful  receive audio. 
   Is it the mechanical filter or the class A audio amp?  I cant say for 
sure but there are many audiophiles out there, as well as those that 
play guitar and rely on the smooth and pleasant sound of the mighty 
vacuum tube. or in the case of the KW2000b the mighty valve.       As 
far as other receive qualities   if I could add DSP and narrow filters 
it would surely come close to the K3 in busy band conditions.    at 
present it is a great rag chew and net rig but lacks in the tight 
conditions of contesting.   I will mirror Eriks comments that the K3 
receive audio is just fine and as good as any of my other solid state 
rigs. Surely it has no worries from truly qualified comments from 
Elecraft detractors.



On 2/3/2013 15:42, Erik Basilier wrote

> Since nobody has answered yet, I will give it a shot, although it is
> entirely subjective and not even based on recent observations. I am
> commenting only about receive audio, and only ssb. I have a KWM-2, and had
> the same question on my mind years ago. Here is what I recall. When I got
> the KWM-2 I had an FT-1000D, and I noticed that ssb sounded much better in
> the Collins, at the same 2.1 KHz filter width. I attributed this to two
> separate effects: Class A audio power amp in the Collins vs push-pull
> semiconductor pa in the Yaesu, and mechanical filter in the Collins vs. xtal
> filters in the Yaesu. I think the mechanical filters may have less phase
> distortion and less group delay variations than the xtal units; at least
> that was my guess at the time. Then I sold the Yaesu and bought an early K3
> #18xx. The K3 was much superior to both the other radios in almost every
> respect, but the ssb receive audio was the rare exception. It was inferior
> to the Collins. I felt it was also worse than the Yaesu, although both rigs
> used xtal filters (not the whole K3 story; spare me the flames) and solid
> state push pull audio pa's. Later I got Elecraft's hardware upgrades for the
> rx audio, and they made a big difference. I now feel the K3 is at least as
> good as the Yaesu. Still I don't feel it is as good as the Collins. Later
> still I got a KX3. It sounds incredibly good in a certain sense that I
> attribute to the selectivity being affected by on no xtal or mechanical
> filters. OTOH I feel that its audio pa suffers from not being class A. So
> the KX3 and the Collins have opposite strengths and weaknesses. Overall, the
> KX3 wins over the Collins. So, with these radios to choose from, which one
> do I turn on when I have time to get on the air? The K3 wins overall, and
> not just because more tx power is available. It is just a little bit more
> comfortable to operate. BTW I haven't experimented with running the K3 with
> a roofing filter much wider than the DSP bandwidth; perhaps that would
> improve the receive audio noticeably? Warning: The above are my subjective
> observations and not supported by any measurements. I post this with much
> hesitation. Probably some Elecraft detractor is going use it as
> justification for writing something on another board to the effect that
> Elecraft audio is bad. Shame on that person whoever it may be.
>
>   
>
> 73, Erik K7TV
>
>   
>
> Bill W2BLC wrote:
>
> It has been many years since I sat down to a Collins 75-S3. So long that I
> cannot remember if they were really that good.
>
>   
>
> Anyone out there have a Collins receiver they'd care to compare to a K3?
>
> I am only interested in the quality of the receive audio. Of course there is
> no DSP, memories, and all that.
>
>   
>
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