New Rig need advice

[AD9DX]

Ok so I have been a ham for about a year now. I took my dad's advice and bought an Icom IC-7000 last year as my first rig.  It is alright but I am starting to see where the rig is lacking.  I am going to sell the rig, the auto tuner I have with it and the Heil mic that I have for it.  I figure that on flee-bay I can get about a grand for the rig and accessories. I am going to return an HF Auto from Palstar that I bought a week ago because it is, well not ready for prime time.  So I have roughly 2500 give or take to spend on a new rig and will obviously need a new mic as well.  I use a Heathkit sb-200 just did the Harbach mods and am fairly happy with that, I will at some point upgrade that as well (I am obsessed with 160m cw) and want to run QRO on 160. 

I want a radio that I can at some point run dual receivers to listen to the both sides of a pile up. And want to be able to have a bit more selectivity on receive.   

From the specs I have seen, I think the Elecraft K3 may be the way to go.  I know that I am going to have to live with a radio without a secondary receiver for the moment. But love that I can upgrade the radio as time goes on.  I have no problem building the radio so I can save a few bucks and get a few accessories for it. 

I have also looked at getting a Ten Tech Orion II and see that it is a fairly option packed radio too, but it seems lacking in the receiver specs. 

My dad has an Icom 7800 and I like the radio, but don't want to shell out that much money for a rig, and am not sure that it would satisfy my cw habit. 

Is there any advice that you all would give me, I am willing to save up for a bit to get a bit more expensive radio, I don't mind getting something used, like a 7600 or a Icom Pro III with the inrad mods.

I will use this radio for DX and contesting predominately. In the seven months I have really been active (since getting my general I have 154 countries 95 confirmed) and hope to get my rear-end on the honor roll asap  . 

My antenna right now is a homebrew 160m Windom and with neighborhood beams and verticals are out of the question. 

The only radio that I am absolutely against is the Flex radios.  Software defined radios are not my cup of tea. 

Any input at all will be greatly appreciated.   Thanks in advance.

[KG4NEL]

My vote would be the K3, too

[K9KJM]

If I were in your shoes I would be watching the ads for a good used Icom 756PROIII

Sometimes available in the $1500 area, LOTS of radio in that price range!

[HB9PJT]

The Kenwood TS-590 is a very good rig.

73, Peter - HB9PJT

[KS2G]

PJT...

Yes, the Kenwood TS-590s is a terrific radio.
Have had mine for a year and LOVE it.

But the OP said he's looking for a rig with dual-receivers.
And the '590 doesn't have that feature.

As mentioned in previous posts -- his best bet is a K3.

73,
Mel - KS2G

[AD9DX]

PJT...

Yes, the Kenwood TS-590s is a terrific radio.
Have had mine for a year and LOVE it.

But the OP said he's looking for a rig with dual-receivers.
And the '590 doesn't have that feature.

As mentioned in previous posts -- his best bet is a K3.

73,
Mel - KS2G

Mel, it looks like that will be my best bet... Seems like a lot of dxpeditions use the rig too.  I guess I need to figure out which filters I would get the best use from.

[WX7G]

The K3 is the rig to have for 160 meter CW contesting.

You can compare the receivers here. Higher Narrow Spaced Dynamic Range is needed for contesting:

        http://www.sherweng.com/table.html

I got my K3 for CW contesting on 160 meters and it is the only radio I have owned that doesn't get the front end crunched by strong signals. I have the 400 Hz roofing filter and set the DSP filter to 200 Hz. This makes top band contesting a joy. The 200 Hz filter is even better.

The only transceiver that is up there with the receiver in the K3 is the Yaesu FTdx-5000D

[K7PEH]

I also recommend the K3, I have a full K-line:  K3, P3, and KPA500.

But, I will also sell you my Icom 756 Pro III plus the Icom PW-1 ss 1 KW amp.  Both in perfect condition.  It is currently my backup rig but I planning on a KX3 as backup and portable.

[WB4TJH]

Get the K3.   It wins hand down, and it's American made, too. You can't beat the receiver and Elecraft's dependability record speaks for itself. My new IC7000 required TWO warranty repairs. I got rid of it.

[AD9DX]

I'll be ordering the K3 very soon. I want to sell a couple things first that way I can afford to get the second receiver. I have three little ones and the Mrs stays at home so all major purchases have to be well planned .