[Elecraft] KX3 with external speaker

[Phil Hystad]

Thanks Jim (and, others who answered), I expected as much.

Right now headphones are OK but a hassle with hearing aids that I need to take off first.  The speaker from the KX3 is OK too but not the best audio quality but then again, hams usually don’t care for audio quality that much, as long as it is clear is my desire — then again, I am mostly CW anyway.

phil

> On Feb 16, 2026, at 3:44 PM, Jim Brown via Elecraft <elecraft at mailman.qth.net> wrote:
> 
> On 2/16/2026 3:15 PM, Phil Hystad via Elecraft wrote:
>> Can someone give pointers on this?
> 
> The K3, K3S, and K4 have separate audio power amplifiers for headphones and speakers, each with their own individual output jacks. I haven't studied the schematic, but I suspect that the KX3 has only the amplifiers for headphones. Speakers require considerably more power.
> 
> The headphone output could probably drive a powered speaker (that is, one with its own built-in amplifier), but powered speakers are notoriously bad for RFI, both generating noise and being susceptible to nearby transmitters, so are unlikely to be a solution.
> 
> 73, Jim K9YC
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