I have also had a similar need for external speakers. The recommendation from an "unnamed source (heh heh) " on the left coast was the following
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7314523&type=product&id=111884 3685964 they are not very expensive , to the delete of most of us and seem to work quite well Jay -----Original Message----- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Ken Kopp Sent: Saturday, April 04, 2009 2:18 PM To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] K3 external speakers The following may well be obvious to most, but I know of at least three K3 owners who've been "caught" by plugging mono plugs into the (stereo) speaker jack. There is a "gotcha" involved in the use of external speakers with the K3. It's addressed indirectly on page 20 of the D2 version of the manual in the 2nd paragraph under PHONES when it reads "... if you use a stereo plug at the external speaker jack .... but is easily glossed over by the reader. Many / most monaural external speakers have a MONAURAL plug on their cords. DON'T plug one of these (monaural) plugs into the speaker jack. It's configured for stereo and the sleeve of the mono plug will short the ring portion of the stereo jack and thereby short one channel of audio. I ... along with several others ... have experienced a failure of the audio amplifier IC on the front panel board due to one channel being shorted by the sleeve of a monaural plug. It seems to take many hours of operation under this condition to cause the IC to fail ... over a year in mine and another's case. The IC is -NOT- an easy change! Just remember that one audio channel is on the tip and the other is on the ring of the plug and connect speakers in this manner using -only- a stereo plug. My particular "trap" was forgetting that using a stereo "Y" merely moved the "trap" six inches away from the jack. (;-) As others have pointed out, speakers from the two-radio field are good choices, and the CB isle at truck stops usually sell nice speakers. Mine are Barjan 320-701's. Radio Scrap 21-549B's are OK, too. 73! Ken Kopp - K0PP elecraftcov...@rfwave.net http://tinyurl.com/7lm3m5 ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html