We are selling a really rare vintage tube microphone from the 1950´s. The Telefunken M921 (or Schoeps M201) was developed by Schoeps in 1952. The german company Schoeps was founded in 1948 and the M201 was only the third development the company made. Telefunken was a huge brandname with international reputation and companies such as Neumann (U47), AKG (C12 = ELA 251) and Schoeps often distributed their products with the Telefunken label at that time.
The idea behind the M201 was to minimize the dimensions of the microphone body. With a length of 140mm and a diameter of only 23mm it was the smallest tube mic available in 1952. For this reason some electronic components had to be placed outside the microphone in a small box.Also the M201 was the first mic where the capsule was threaded onto the amplifier part (instead of the bayonet coupling. The M 201 was also available with a two way capsule system, a smaller one with omni characteristic and a larger one with figure-eight pattern. By switching on or off the figure-eight one could choose the capsule over-all characteristic omni or cardioid. The switch is activated by pulling the capsule out or pushing it in. We offer this microphone with two capsules. Look at the pics for the details and serial numbers.
This is a very rare mic. It´s even rarer than a Neumann U47 or AKG C12, since fewer were made and not too many survived. Here´s an article were a guy mentions that thsi was the main microphone for Mercury Living Presence recordings since 1953. He says when stereo recordings started in late 1955, they could not find enough M201 mics and had to work with a M201 in the middle and two U-47’s on the side. Poor guys. :-)
http://www.preservationsound.com/?p=4056
This is an exceptional piece of microphone history. It comes with all parts shown on the pictures:
1 x Telefunken Ela M921 vintage tube microphone #0501 with capsule #0312 AND a second capsule #0146.
1 x Telefunken Ela M921 original vintage microphone case.
1 x Custom fitting cable with cable transformer.
1 x Vintage Schoeps psu for the tube mic system. Customnized and refurbished.
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