[Elecraft] K3 audio quality

[Don Wilhelm]

I was not going to "chime in" on this thread because that "horse" has 
been thoroughly beat to death in the past.

Let's face it, a small speaker like that used in the K3/K3S is not going 
to produce astounding bass and since it faces upwards away from your 
ears, the high frequency sounds are going to get lost.
I believe it does exceptionally well for its size and quality.

If you want good quality speaker audio from your K3/K3S, you are going 
to have to use external speakers - pick your quality there too.  I use a 
pair of old Radio Shack Optimus speakers that I picked up for cheap at a 
2nd hand store.  The 4 inch drivers sound great with my K3, but being 4 
inch drivers they are not expected to produce 'resounding bass', but 
that is not required for communications.  The internal speaker sounds 
worse by comparison, but is usable if the external speakers are not 
available.

So, if you are comparing the audio between two radios, don't rely on the 
internal speakers.  Connect each one to good quality speakers - that way 
you are comparing the radio's audio, and not the quality of the internal 
speakers.  Some radios produce better quality audio from their internal 
speakers than others - for instance the KX3 internal speaker is far 
inferior to the internal speaker used in the KX2.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 9/16/2016 8:27 PM, Mel Farrer via Elecraft wrote:
> Joe and all,
> Isn't this where the rubber hits the road?  That is while your EQ settings are OK....  It does not address the audio spectrum generated by the speaker.
>
> Consider a baritone against a soprano on the same settings.  I think we need to hear from Jim on how they adjust the mixer settings for each person, news or music....
> Thanks.
>
>