Telefunken

Telefunken Elektroakustik exists because the pattern switch on Toni Fishman’s ELA M 251 was broken. He bought the North American rights to the name in 2000, reverse-engineered the switch, then the whole mic, and the company has built in South Windsor, Connecticut since 2001. The original German firm put its badge on the U47 and the ELA M 251 half a century before. We’ve got both eras coming through.

Telefunken GmbH distributed Neumann’s U47 under its diamond logo from 1947, and when Neumann walked away in 1958 asked AKG for a replacement: the ELA M 250 and 251, a CK12 capsule in its own body, built from 1959 to 1962 and as wanted as a valve mic gets. The Diamond Series recreates the 251, the U47 and the C12; the AK-47, CU29 and M80-series dynamics are Connecticut’s own.

Through here come the TF47 and TF29 Copperhead, the CU29, AK-47 and ELA M 250E, the M81, M82 and TDA-1 DI, plus vintage: a Telefunken-badged U47, a V676a preamp and AKG-built D19s. If it’s gone, use Find Me Gear and we’ll flag the next, checked over and ready to ship UK-wide.