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Author Topic: ELA M 251: Is It REALLY Worth $23,500?  (Read 20611 times)

Arf! Mastering

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Re: is a Ela M-251 REALLY worth $23,500?
« Reply #15 on: May 04, 2008, 05:18:38 PM »

Musicians make similar investments in violins, celli, etc.  An instrument from the 19th Century can run in the hundreds of thousands, yet they are played daily, and when the time comes to sell, the investment is recouped.  Some instruments do end up in collectors cases, but if unplayed for too long, they can lose their sound.  I wonder if the same holds for a mic like this.  Does it lose that magical tone if it sits idle for too long?

Then there are collectors wines that are undrinkable yet fetch many thousands for a bottle.  The only function of such as bottle of wine is that someone might be willing to pay even more for it down the line.
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Markus Sauschlager

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Re: is a Ela M-251 REALLY worth $23,500?
« Reply #16 on: May 04, 2008, 07:19:09 PM »

Imagine the day when that mic's capsule starts to fail...
And that day quite sure will come.  Rolling Eyes
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Markus Sauschlager

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Barry Hufker

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Re: is a Ela M-251 REALLY worth $23,500?
« Reply #17 on: May 04, 2008, 07:43:35 PM »

I don't disagree but you're not thinking like a collector.  If you watch Public Television's "Antique Road Show", then you know that as long as the item is completely original, working or not, it is worth far more than if it's been restored.


EDIT: Maybe you don't get ARS in Australia.  Sorry.
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danickstr

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Re: is a Ela M-251 REALLY worth $23,500?
« Reply #18 on: May 04, 2008, 10:31:12 PM »

speaking of sexy on a bearskin rug, it was on some sort of furry shag.

If I had the lack of sense to buy it, I would not have wanted to use it, so that kind of defeats the purpose.
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compasspnt

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Re: is a Ela M-251 REALLY worth $23,500?
« Reply #19 on: May 04, 2008, 11:07:32 PM »

I considered buying this, just as I seriously considered the "new" U-47 last year.  Had I bought either or both, I would have used them.

But obviously very carefully.

I didn't buy either because I just have too many things already.
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J.J. Blair

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Re: is a Ela M-251 REALLY worth $23,500?
« Reply #20 on: May 05, 2008, 02:29:13 AM »

Del Cosmos ... so was it you who bought it?
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They say the heart of Rock & Roll is still beating, which is amazing if you consider all the blow it's done over the years.

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delcosmos

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Re: is a Ela M-251 REALLY worth $23,500?
« Reply #21 on: May 05, 2008, 04:18:24 AM »

J.J. Blair wrote on Mon, 05 May 2008 01:29

Del Cosmos ... so was it you who bought it?


Not that one.

A few weeks ago I bought from Vintage King this beautiful ELAM 250, I feel more comfortable buying from VK than ebay, you know, with VK I got Warranty, service, you can trust that they are not selling you a clone or something so it worth paying a little bit more knowing that you are getting an original system.



Best regards.

delcosmos.
index.php/fa/8753/0/
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Frankenheimer

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Re: is a Ela M-251 REALLY worth $23,500?
« Reply #22 on: May 05, 2008, 04:35:31 AM »

From the engineer side, in my opinion, the price is much too high. I didn't find that there is much difference with my 414's compared with a V76 Preamp.Also the ELAM 250 is harder to find than a ELAM 251. So forbes is commenting that mic ? Why not spendind money on purchasing a CMV3 mic ? Isn't it rare enough for a collector.

Franz
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delcosmos

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Re: is a Ela M-251 REALLY worth $23,500?
« Reply #23 on: May 05, 2008, 04:43:41 AM »

A true collector should have the ELAM and the CMV3!! Very Happy
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Markus Sauschlager

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Re: is a Ela M-251 REALLY worth $23,500?
« Reply #24 on: May 05, 2008, 08:01:26 AM »

Barry Hufker wrote on Mon, 05 May 2008 01:43

I don't disagree but you're not thinking like a collector.  If you watch Public Television's "Antique Road Show", then you know that as long as the item is completely original, working or not, it is worth far more than if it's been restored.


EDIT: Maybe you don't get ARS in Australia.  Sorry.


Well then I'm really not thinking like a collector, because if it doesn't work as it should it's worth close to nothing for me...

BTW, Barry: we don't have kangaroos in Vienna! (well maybe in the Sch
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Markus Sauschlager

- Schauma amal, dann werma schon sehen... -

"...and do not forget that marketing is b.s. with a sugar coating." - O. Archut, 06 March 2009

Barry Hufker

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Re: is a Ela M-251 REALLY worth $23,500?
« Reply #25 on: May 05, 2008, 11:20:30 AM »

Sorry Markus for the mistake of reading Australia for Austria.  I'm ashamed to say I made the same mistake in 8th grade and got the answer wrong on the exam.  I guess I just don't learn from my mistakes.

Really?  No kangaroos in Austria?  What about Koalas?

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J.J. Blair

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Re: is a Ela M-251 REALLY worth $23,500?
« Reply #26 on: May 05, 2008, 11:33:50 AM »

delcosmos wrote on Mon, 05 May 2008 01:18

J.J. Blair wrote on Mon, 05 May 2008 01:29

Del Cosmos ... so was it you who bought it?


Not that one.

A few weeks ago I bought from Vintage King this beautiful ELAM 250, I feel more comfortable buying from VK than ebay, you know, with VK I got Warranty, service, you can trust that they are not selling you a clone or something so it worth paying a little bit more knowing that you are getting an original system.


Congrats!  That's a gorgeous one.  
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studio info

They say the heart of Rock & Roll is still beating, which is amazing if you consider all the blow it's done over the years.

"The Internet enables pompous blowhards to interact with other pompous blowhards in a big circle jerk of pomposity." - Bill Maher

"The negative aspects of this business, not only will continue to prevail, but will continue to accelerate in madness. Conditions aren't going to get better, because the economics of rock and roll are getting closer and closer to the economics of Big Business America." - Bill Graham

Fig

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Re: is a Ela M-251 REALLY worth $23,500?
« Reply #27 on: May 05, 2008, 11:55:46 AM »

Indeed worth every penny - and I would certainly use it.

Fig
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delcosmos

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Re: is a Ela M-251 REALLY worth $23,500?
« Reply #28 on: May 05, 2008, 04:58:25 PM »

Yeah, those guys got this kind of gear in the 70's, 80's and even 90's at ridiculously low prices. Now you have to spend a fortune to get a decent U47, Ela M250, Fairchild 670, a Pultec, a C12, a C24, U67, etc, etc.

Best regards.

Delcosmos.
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J.J. Blair

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Re: is a Ela M-251 REALLY worth $23,500?
« Reply #29 on: May 05, 2008, 05:43:00 PM »

Well, the fact of the matter is that commercial recording studios cannot buy a locker full of mics at $10,000+, Fairchilds at $20,000+ or a rack full of vintage Neve module $4,000, these days. It's not the old days, where people HAD to come to a recording studio, so you could pay through the nose for things, and know you were going to be booked solid at $2,500/day.  It's the people such as yourself, who are producers or songwriters making their money off royalties, who can pay these prices and put things things in studios they own, that aren't dependent on bookings.  Studio rates are taking a beating.  If you are making your money off the front end, the impression I get from talking to studio managers and owners these days is that there's no way you can justify paying for gear like this, and hope to make your rent at the same time.  

Maybe Terry can share his thoughts on it, since he owns and operates a high end facility that still stays regularly booked.

I know several rooms where big records get done that can't seem to even afford to keep their mics working properly all the time.  
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studio info

They say the heart of Rock & Roll is still beating, which is amazing if you consider all the blow it's done over the years.

"The Internet enables pompous blowhards to interact with other pompous blowhards in a big circle jerk of pomposity." - Bill Maher

"The negative aspects of this business, not only will continue to prevail, but will continue to accelerate in madness. Conditions aren't going to get better, because the economics of rock and roll are getting closer and closer to the economics of Big Business America." - Bill Graham
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