[Elecraft] K3S vs. K3

[Al Lorona]

I think it goes deeper than this. Long after those engineering changes were made, and even up to the present day, we continually hear complaints about 'bad K3 audio'. Every time the infamous "Bad K3 audio" thread starts up again, I try to understand the problem, but after asking lots of questions the only words I've ever heard used to describe the 'problem' are: 1/ 'bad'2/ 'noisy' or 'hissy'3/ 'fatiguing' Without a better description, preferably with hard measurements to back up the claims, it's almost impossible to help. At this time, I must assume that most reports of 'bad K3 audio' are due to sub-optimal settings of gain, passband, EQ, NR, AFX, etc., unless persuaded otherwise. About five or six years ago I made recordings of various receivers and held a sort of double-blind test to see if the folks on the reflector could identify the K3. (This was in the days before the 4 kHz audio filter fix when everyone was complaining about artifacts.) The results were about what you'd expect from random guessing. I also found it interesting that the ones who were the most vocal about 'bad K3 audio' declined to participate in that little exercise (which included a Kenwood in the set of receivers). 
I also recall one source of 'bad K3 audio' was exacerbated by the (perplexing) modern trend of using headphones with extreme upper and lower frequency response.
"But my Kenwood sounds great compared to my K3." Yes? And it draws three or four times the current as your K3 -- and weighs two or three times as much. Do you really want to make your K3 into a Kenwood?
Like Jim, I've spent time both inside the recording booth and as one of the musicians in the studio. I've got fairly good ears. The K3 sounds just fine.
 Al  W6LX