Elam 251's

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Scenaria

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 3, 2004
Messages
948
Location
Florida
im sorry but this dude has to be nuts if he thinks he's going to get $40k for a pair

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=64449&item=3731812338&rd=1

Ebay has turned soo shity
 
That is pretty crazy. Anybody ever build one of these? I would love to do one of these as a project. I used to work at a studio that had one of these, and it was "heaven". No $20000 worth of heaven, but pretty heavenly regardless. Strings and vocals just sounded amazing through that thing...

I highly doubt anyone would pay that kind of money for his mics...but more power to him if they do! :razz:
 
Ive never understood the hoopla around those mics. Really. I would pretty much need to have every piece of gear on earth before I would consider buying one of those and then theyd STILL be too expensive. I just dont get it...


Whatever happened to that guy that was selling that stupid ass summing mixer for $33K??? I sure hope he never sold that thing.

dave
 
he raised it to $35k

I shit you not...

ive been noticing that kind of trend...

list something for XXX dollars it doesnt sell soo the price is raised on a re-list...

cant figure out that logic :?
 
He's actually advertising that thing in the back of Mix these days. I laughed my ass off when I saw that one :roll: .
 
Hmmm Its not unusual to pay USD 15-20000,00 for one of those mics

I thinks it pretty crazy, but that never the less how much they go for these days..

Kind regards

Peter
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------Ive never understood the hoopla around those mics.

Dave,

I rented one particular 251 from Toy Specialists to use with a singer I was recording and it was astounding. Best vocal sound I've ever heard anywhere, anytime. It was the marriage between the mic and the singer. (I'm sure as hell glad I wasn't married to the singer - she was totally nuts, with a beautiful voice.) I've used three or four others and they ranged from fair to very good, but I haven't heard anything like that one mic since. I wonder where it went when they sold out?
 
[quote author="jrmintz"] I've used three or four others and they ranged from fair to very good, but I haven't heard anything like that one mic since. I wonder where it went when they sold out?[/quote]

Yeah, I should mention that the one I used was a pretty famous 251, and may have been on the extraordinary side of things. This one was actually one of the ones Elvis used on some of his recordings. I don't know what it was, but that mic just had some magic in it. The top end was astounding, and the midrange was silky. It just sounded great... I've not heard a mic like it. It literally made a U47 sound like a big turd...and normally that mic sounded fricking awesome. So, it was special... Ahh, it makes me teary eyed just to think about it! :guinness:
 
Are the good ones the ones with the AC701 tubes or the 6072s? I wonder how much is the capsule and/or the electronics. I have not seen inside one except from pictures on the web. The transformer seems to be very small.
 
I think when it comes to this kind of fiending, I really turn off. I suppose if you are recording some kind of acapella thing, then the integrity of a 251 will in fact make or break your recording, but I record rock and roll and in the scope of everything that is happening on a record, ultimately, I could care less about using a 251 or not as nobody in the world is going to hear it in my mix. I feel the same way about a U47. I dont need one of those either, not now that there are several varieties of mics that sound not only "close enough" in idea, but totally awesome on their own, soundelux and lawson mics come to mind. Those mics will get me to the same place in a mix that a real U47 will and for much less money, much less maintainence and much less aggrivation and there are very few people who are going to hear the difference on a rock and roll record and for the people that CAN hear the difference, they are gonna hear an awesome sounding soundelux, so who really cares? Its like all the people that HAVE to use a REAL api 312 vs. a clone that somoene here makes. Is there THAT much of a difference between a snare drum record with one vs. the other when you bring 24 tracks of other crap up around it? I mean, there might be, but ask me if I care...

I think by and large, the only reason to get one of those mics, if you arent recording pavoriti or Elvis, is either a)as an investmen or b)to bring clients into your studio, which of course is a very valid concern for some of us. Id pay $10K in insurance to get bookings, so looking at a 251 like that, I suppose you could justify the price if you had to, but I think we all prove to our selves on a regular basis every time we finish a project that we can make a FULLY AWESOME sound with some parts from digikey or farnell to not be bothered with the fiending masses who blindly follow the hype...

Does a 251 sound great? sure. Can I do the same job with a lawson? For the clients I regularly have, absolutely. I'll spend the rest of that money on keeping my cat nice and smooth. shaving gets expensive.

dave
 
The thing to remember is, they don't all sound the same. This particular 251 that I used was magical with this particular singer. That's not a reason to me to go out and buy a different 251. It might suck on the same singer. It's the same with all vintage mics, I think. You can't really know if a particular mic is going to be the answer to your needs until you stick it in front of a particular voice and it's great. You can only generalize about mic models a little bit, in fact I think it's almost useless. I could see buying a rare mic if you're doing an album with a particular singer, you're going to be using it a lot, you try out a particular mic and it's stunning. Then it makes sense to buy THAT mic, not a different one of that model. If you're attracting clients like Dave it's a different story. But to talk about 'a U47' or 'a 251' in general terms makes no sense at all. You have to make an esthetic decision that a particular individual mic is worth it in a particular situation. I could see having an assortment of great mics to handle different situations, but I could see a Ferrari 328 in my driveway, too.
 
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