Telefunken ELA M 251 Clone Tube Microphone Build Thread (D-Ela M 251E)

[paulcheeba]

Happy with my pair, they sound great!

 

[Drosselmeier]

I made 251 according to a simplified scheme, capsule clone ck12 1:1, transformer clone Haufe 1:1, Elactroharmonics 12ay7

 

[egroys]

Happy with my pair, they sound great!
View attachment 119957

Beautiful! Where did you get those badges?

 

[paulcheeba]

Beautiful! Where did you get those badges?

Thanks. EBay.

 

[Barry Hufker]

I hope you would reconsider having Telefunken badges on your mics. While your mics are beautiful and a testament to your skill, I feel that putting another company's logo on your work is confusing and unfair to the actual Telefunken brand. If I am offending you by saying this, I hope you'll forgive me, but I would feel that same way if someone put their mark on your work. I know that if the mics were sold you would tell the buyer the mics aren't Telefunken, but you may not be around to say it, or be around to say it when they are passed on to the next seller. I encourage you to design a logo and place if on your work as a statement of your achievement.

Maybe if I relate this story you'll better see my point. When I first started out purchasing vintage gear I bought a pair of Schoeps M221B mics from a reputable broker. Years later when it came time to service those mics, I sent them to Schoeps only to have them tell me the mics were not Schoeps but Hungarian fakes and they wouldn't service them. They had Schoeps capsules but the electronics weren't Schoeps. I told this to the broker and he was as surprised as I was. Now, my only comfort is knowing that Schoeps says I own the best pair of fakes they've ever seen...

 

[paulcheeba]

I hope you would reconsider having Telefunken badges on your mics. While your mics are beautiful and a testament to your skill, I feel that putting another company's logo on your work is confusing and unfair to the actual Telefunken brand. If I am offending you by saying this, I hope you'll forgive me, but I would feel that same way if someone put their mark on your work. I know that if the mics were sold you would tell the buyer the mics aren't Telefunken, but you may not be around to say it, or be around to say it when they are passed on to the next seller. I encourage you to design a logo and place if on your work as a statement of your achievement.

Maybe if I relate this story you'll better see my point. When I first started out purchasing vintage gear I bought a pair of Schoeps M221B mics from a reputable broker. Years later when it came time to service those mics, I sent them to Schoeps only to have them tell me the mics were not Schoeps but Hungarian fakes and they wouldn't service them. They had Schoeps capsules but the electronics weren't Schoeps. I told this to the broker and he was as surprised as I was. Now, my only comfort is knowing that Schoeps says I own the best pair of fakes they've ever seen...

You could say that about everything clone related. These are obviously not real and TFK USA use the name producing unoriginal clones that could be passed off.

 

[Barry Hufker]

One difference would be that Telefunken USA owns the rights to the name.

 

[TLRT]

I hope you would reconsider having Telefunken badges on your mics. While your mics are beautiful and a testament to your skill, I feel that putting another company's logo on your work is confusing and unfair to the actual Telefunken brand. If I am offending you by saying this, I hope you'll forgive me, but I would feel that same way if someone put their mark on your work. I know that if the mics were sold you would tell the buyer the mics aren't Telefunken, but you may not be around to say it, or be around to say it when they are passed on to the next seller. I encourage you to design a logo and place if on your work as a statement of your achievement.

Maybe if I relate this story you'll better see my point. When I first started out purchasing vintage gear I bought a pair of Schoeps M221B mics from a reputable broker. Years later when it came time to service those mics, I sent them to Schoeps only to have them tell me the mics were not Schoeps but Hungarian fakes and they wouldn't service them. They had Schoeps capsules but the electronics weren't Schoeps. I told this to the broker and he was as surprised as I was. Now, my only comfort is knowing that Schoeps says I own the best pair of fakes they've ever seen...

I know those Schoeps faked EAG mics(made in the seventies), but it is really obvious that those are fakes, no logo, different PSU,etc...I just finished restoring one made for Gefell M7 capsules

 

[paulcheeba]

One difference would be that Telefunken USA owns the rights to the name.

Doesn’t make them real though. I’m sorry you got stung but these really bear no likeness to original vintage versions it’s a harmless bit of fun. You want to talk about copyright infringement? I’ve lost millions from illegal downloads etc. but I don’t go on a moral crusade with diy kit builders. Jeez.

 

[Barry Hufker]

@TLRT It was not obvious even to an experienced vintage Schoeps broker that mine were fake. Mine were not the typical Hungarian fakes. Mine had a Schoeps logo and model number. Not even the U.S. rep knew they were fake when they sent them to Schoeps. As I said in my post, the folks at Schoeps said literally "these are the best fakes we've ever seen."

@paulcheeba I'm not going to argue with you. I'm sorry you've had loses due to copyright. And I'm not on a moral crusade. I had a point I wanted to express and I have. You have yours. Unfortunately we will not agree but I mean no ill will towards you.

 

[TLRT]

@TLRT It was not obvious even to an experienced vintage Schoeps broker that mine were fake. Mine were not the typical Hungarian fakes. Mine had a Schoeps logo and model number. Not even the U.S. rep knew they were fake when they sent them to Schoeps. As I said in my post, the folks at Schoeps said literally "these are the best fakes we've ever seen."

@paulcheeba I'm not going to argue with you. I'm sorry you've had loses due to copyright. And I'm not on a moral crusade. I had a point I wanted to express and I have. You have yours. Unfortunately we will not agree but I mean no ill will towards you.

That was made after our socialist times by somebody else, the point was that the local industry was unable to reproduce that mic(Eastern block was under embargo), so it used the schoeps capsules or other capsules and the Electronics were made by Gefell but with ac701. Could you send me some pictures?

 

[cfanzalone]

Wow, this could be (IS) a very touchy subject. I, for one, have a beautiful 251 clone but would never put a Telefunken badge on it. It may look nice for clients, but I think doing so is sacrilegious...

 

[paulcheeba]

Wow, this could be (IS) a very touchy subject. I, for one, have a beautiful 251 clone but would never put a Telefunken badge on it. It may look nice for clients, but I think doing so is sacrilegious...

I don’t do anything for clients as I don’t need to. I have a genuine mic collection that covers everything anyway. These are for private use as I don’t work for anyone ever. Gave that up about 25 years ago. I’ve worked on my own projects since my mid twenties.
It’s so self righteous and judgmental to make such petty assumptions. To think I would try to pass one of these off is idiocy. And I agree it would be a bad look.

 

[JohnRoberts]

Let's be nicer.....

JR

 

[paulcheeba]

Let's be nicer.....

JR

Wise words.

 

[egroys]

Does anyone have a suggestion on where to get the PSU for this build?

Chunger is sold out, I see MicParts has it, and I can also order from Thomann. I need 3x so the shipping might make sense from Thomann (to the US).

 

[Jim50hertz]

A question for @poctop or anyone else who knows.

C3 on the boards I have has the polarity reversed in comparison to the (prototype?) boards pictured in the build guide.

Is this correct on the production boards?

EDIT: Production boards are correct, one mic up and running.
Tuning time.

 

[koki]

Hi,
I build 251 with Beezneez capsule, Telefunken 12at7 (Ecc 81 ), Moby transformer, 1.7 wet tantalum from Mouser.. just feel that michrophone is sound so cold, there is no that warmth like original, or maybe Bock 251 or Heisserman version.. Something is missing in upper lows or low mids i think.. It doesent have that soft, mellow, round sound...If i can decribe it. Try to put 100M instead of 30M, and all combination with 22uF ,33uF and 100uF cap and output cap 3.2 uF and still sound so cold... Maybe i am missing something, any suggest is welcome. Thanks in advance.

 

[mrgrooves666]

Let's be nicer.....

JR

Or anyone can mind their own business too

 

[HerbertR]

Hi,
I build 251 with Beezneez capsule, Telefunken 12at7 (Ecc 81 ), Moby transformer, 1.7 wet tantalum from Mouser.. just feel that michrophone is sound so cold, there is no that warmth like original, or maybe Bock 251 or Heisserman version.. Something is missing in upper lows or low mids i think.. It doesent have that soft, mellow, round sound...If i can decribe it. Try to put 100M instead of 30M, and all combination with 22uF ,33uF and 100uF cap and output cap 3.2 uF and still sound so cold... Maybe i am missing something, any suggest is welcome. Thanks in advance.

I went down to 680nF with the DC blocking capacitor because anything over 1µF was way too bass heavy in my opinion. Then I got the warm mids that were there into focus. As for the tube, I'll be honest - I've tried lot of tubes, built "triode switch" adapters between the tube and socket to test both triodes on the tubes, and burned them in for days. There are only two "available" NOS tubes that I think have that "expensive" sounding, direct character. They are the 5-star Mica GE6072 and the Siemens Halske ECC801S. There are a lot of noisy/crackly NOS GE6072s on the market though and they are all expensive. It can be an expensive and educational journey until you find the right one. All other tubes sounded dull, not detailed/washed out, lacked warmth, no character or were too loud. And the TF AC701 is more a expensive Lottery nowadays.The GE6072 has that sexy edge, is perfectly balanced, hard to explain. It's magical. The Siemens Halske mentioned is also excellent and more available, less noise, very proud sound. TF ECC801S were good but a bit too much noise.