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