[Elecraft] K3S vs. K3

[Bill]

It is a fact that out of the box, many rigs do sound better than the K3 
- warmer and richer audio. That was my experience and is also reported 
by others. However, these rigs are not equals to the K3 in most other 
aspects and have no K-Line of supporting equipment available.

It took me a long time to get the K3 sounding the way I wanted it to - 
to suit my needs of armchair copy on 40/75/160 for rag chew. Hiss and 
audio response were both a problem, making my K3 less than desirable for 
my needs.

I decided to make use of all the various menu 
settings/changes/selections afforded by the K3 to get it to produce the 
audio I wanted. The Cady book was a help in understanding what the 
various settings do and why they do it.

I dogged and dogged the problems and menus. I asked for help and 
basically found I was in this by myself - other reflector users said the 
K3 sounded wonderful. To me, it did not. My TS480 ran audio rings around 
it - right out of the box.

By trial and error - and keeping careful notes - I eventually I found a 
combo of settings that work for me.  My K3 now provides rich warm 
receive audio via a pair of Behringer amplified speakers and is most 
pleasing to listen to for hours at a time.  Having said all this - I 
have to say my K3 has excellent receive audio. I just had to dig to get 
to it.

Now, will I get the new synth? I don't know yet. I will first need to 
hear what experiences other K3 users are having with it. So far, none 
have replied to my question on the matter. However, that really doesn't 
matter much, as I am in no hurry.

Bill W2BLC K-Line