New capsule in the AR51?

[Johnkenn]

Ok - I'm not saying these are the same thing AT ALL...but damn, they sure do look similar. How many ways can you skin a cat? It's got to be all about the capsule...

Apex 460


And the Tele

[Johnkenn]

Oh dear...didn't realize this was the same mic from the M16 fiasco...

Telefunken M16 and Apex 460 Comparison

[Denny C]

I don't think any of these are going to sound anywhere near as good
as that 251 Tele you were very very very interested in.

[musicgen]

I paid the $200 and had the capsule changed in my older AR51. Right away I noticed a difference. Much fuller sound. They included a frequency chart comparing old and new as well. Worth the $.

[Johnkenn]

Originally Posted by Denny C

I don't think any of these are going to sound anywhere near as good
as that 251 Tele you were very very very interested in.

I know...kind of depressing.

[kidvybes]

=Johnkenn;8585406Ok - I'm not saying these are the same thing AT ALL...but damn, they sure do look similar. How many ways can you skin a cat? It's got to be all about the capsule...

...the original capsule in the AR51 appeared to be a better QC'd version of the same 32mm K67 capsule used in the 460...the current 34mm C12 capsule appears to be the same capsule as these (again possibly with better QC):
RK-12: a CK12 Microphone Capsule | Microphone Parts

[Denny C]

Originally Posted by Johnkenn

I know...kind of depressing.

Don't be depressed...it's the holiday season. And BTW, you write some very nice material coupled with a great voice.

[Johnkenn]

Originally Posted by kidvybes

...the original capsule in the AR51 appeared to be a better QC'd version of the same 32mm K67 capsule used in the 460...the current 34mm C12 capsule appears to be the same capsule as these (again possibly with better QC):
RK-12: a CK12 Microphone Capsule | Microphone Parts

Damn...

[Johnkenn]

Originally Posted by Denny C

Don't be depressed...it's the holiday season. And BTW, you write some very nice material coupled with a great voice.

Thanks, Denny...

[Johnkenn]

Originally Posted by musicgen

I paid the $200 and had the capsule changed in my older AR51. Right away I noticed a difference. Much fuller sound. They included a frequency chart comparing old and new as well. Worth the $.

Any way you could post those? Love to see a freq graph with the new side terminated capsule.

[musicgen]

Originally Posted by Johnkenn

Any way you could post those? Love to see a freq graph with the new side terminated capsule.

Ill look for it, not promising much right now, construction at the studio. Although, their customer service is awesome I bet they would email you one! contact@t-funk.com

[Telefunken Lab]

Hi John-

Greetings from the Telefunken lab. I've attached some in-house reference frequency response comparisons between the TK67D (original center-tap) and TK51D (new edge-terminated) capsules. The black line is the TK67D, the blue/purple line is the new TK51D. To note, these plots are not absolute representations of the frequency response, but presented to highlight the differences between the two.

For part sourcing, we have our own sources for these parts and do not get them from any of the aforementioned companies. The design philosophy of the R-F-T series has always been utilizing overseas metalwork and capsules, combining them with quality components, NOS tubes and premium transformers.

Yes the capsules are sourced from overseas, but we spent considerable time finding the best quality sources we could, and test them to strict tolerance in-house prior to installation. Over the last year, we went through over half a dozen sources and numerous capsule models and options from each before deciding on the TK51D.

For the AR-51 specifically, we use the same Swiss-made Haufe T14/1 output transformer as used in our ELA M 251 and C12, a NOS R-F-T ECC81 vacuum tube, and custom-made polystyrene film capacitors in the US.

Every microphone is hand-built in our lab here in CT from raw parts to complete system. All design, PCB layout, and board plugging are also done here.

Hope that helps.
-Ryan

[musicgen]

T Funk rules! What a reply!

[Johnkenn]

Thanks for the reply!