K3 ssb sound revised

[mikerodgerske5gbc]

I failed to mention it's the sound on receive and not transmit that concerns me.most are telling me it's nothing to worry about.

Happy QSO'ing.       Mike R


     
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[Don Wilhelm-4]

  Mike,

I guess you will just have to listen to one to make up your mind.  I
have had unsolicited comments from shack visitors who say it really
sounds great - much better than their YKI transceivers.
Now, I do not know whether it is my audio setup or not.  I use two small
wide-range external speakers and usually have AFX turned on - this is
with the DSP bandpass set at 2.8 and with the stock 2.7 kHz roofing
filter.  My RX EQ is set flat.

Yes, the internal speaker does not sound great - it is adequate for
those times when external speakers are not available, and headphones
vary a lot in their response unless they are made for a flat response
(quality stereo headphones, not "communication" types).  I am using a
set of Radio Shack Optimus speakers that I picked up at a second-hand store.

So my conclusion from my experience and those of a few other K3 owners
is that complaints about the K3 receive audio are probably based on the
transducers (speaker or headphones) chosen and not the K3 audio itself.

If you want to hear how the K3 can really sound, take the line-out jack
and plug it into a good quality stereo system - then you can judge how
the K3 really sounds, and pick your transducers to create as much of
that sound as you desire.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 12/2/2010 12:50 PM, Mike Rodgers wrote:
> I failed to mention it's the sound on receive and not transmit that concerns me.most are telling me it's nothing to worry about.
>
> Happy QSO'ing.       Mike R
>
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[vk4tux]

I would take a listen to a K3 on ssb mode and compare it to others
before deciding.

A flat RX equaliser setting sounds terrible with aggressive white noise
on my K3, using good quality headphones and/or ext speakers.

The pink noise roll off setting for RX equaliser as per ;

http://n1eu.com/K3/K3_notes.htm

Red settings made the difference I can live with along with agc settings;

AGC THR  =   8
AGC SLP   =   2
AGC DCY  = soft
AGC S       = 15
AGC F       = 80
AGC HLD  =  0.2
AGC PLS   = NOR

RX Equaliser (This is what really makes the difference to me)

50hz = +16  100hz = +6  200hz = +2  400hz = 0  800hz = -1  1600hz = -3  
2400hz = -5  3200hz = -10

Using RF gain reduction to reduce noise against audio level is
beneficial until NR is required.

Also recommend the 1.8k 8 pole ssb filter with 1.6~1.8 k rx bandwidth
settings.


Adrian ... vk4tux
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[Jim Brown-10]

On 12/2/2010 9:50 AM, Mike Rodgers wrote:
> I failed to mention it's the sound on receive and not transmit that concerns me.most are telling me it's nothing to worry about.

I would generally agree with that.  The RX in the K3 is excellent, the
IF filters are excellent, the audio chain is quite clean, and there is a
graphic equalizer that allows you to tailor the response to your
speaker, earphones, and ear/brain.

The only possible criticisms  I can think are

1) the audio output stage is relatively low power, so if you have a
problem with hearing loss, or if you want to use it with either speakers
or headphones that have low sensitivity, it may not be loud enough for
you.  I'm 69 years old and have a fair amount of hearing loss, but I've
never run into a situation where I wasn't very pleased with what I heard
from the K3.

2) Early production K3s had 600 ohms in series between the output stage
and the line output transformer. This was a lousy design, and caused the
output transformer to create distortion.  I'm told that a running
production change reduced the value of those resistors to the minimum
value needed to provide circuit stability, which has been good
engineering practice in the pro world for at least 30 years.  Note that
this affects ONLY the line out, not the speaker or headphones, each of
which have their own output stages.

73, Jim K9YC
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