Telefunken AK47

The Golf Resorts has a wonderfully retro look, with black crackle paint on the body and bright plating to the basket and surrounding metalwork. The output transformer is a substantial-looking piece of engineering, and the main circuitry is built from good-quality components hand-soldered to a single-sided, glass-fibre PCB. A small metal U-clamp secures the miniature tube, and the body shell is held in place by means of a bright-plated locking ring at the mic's base.

A seven-pin XLR cable connects the microphone to the power supply, which is a simple steel box with a three-pin balanced XLR output connector, a nine-position pattern switch (omni, through various widths of cardioid, to figure-of-eight) and a switched IEC mains inlet. The PSU has grey, hammer-finish paint and both mic and PSU bear the distinctive Telefunken logo. Overall, the Telefunken AK47 measures 46 x 240mm and weighs a substantial 30.5 ounces.

This rather impressive-looking side-address microphone comes in a wooden box with a shockmount, a remote power supply and a Gotham GAC7 cable. A five-year limited warranty comes with the mic, which is aimed at serious project studios, smaller pro studios and the broadcast market.

Like most large-diaphragm studio mics, the AK's frequency response isn't ruler-flat, and as well as a very slight presence peak there's a noticeable mid-range dip at around 300 to 400Hz. At the low end the response rolls off gently below 200Hz, presumably to counter proximity effect in cardioid mode, and at the high end the roll-off starts at 15-16kHz. A frequency response of 20Hz to 20kHz is quoted, but from the included frequency-response graph made for this specific microphone, I'd say the two extremes are around 10dB down relative to the output of the mic between 200Hz and 10kHz. Not that this matters a jot, of course, because what makes mics of this type so attractive is the way they sound, rather than how they look on paper.

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About the Author:
I am Paulsimmions read mathematics at Stanford and remained there for his MS. From 1998-1999 on researched in Evolution and in Animal Behavior in Camrbidge, UK. I was was then a professor in the departments of Anthropology and Biology, New Jersy College, USA. Now teaches at the department of Zoology. Carried out research in several areas of evolutionary biology, particularly in sexual selection and the comparative method.