Realistic (Sony) 33-1080 Back-Electret Condenser Cardiod Microphones, Pair

Description

Vintage
Radio Shack Realistic (Sony ECM/C22) Cat. No. 33-1080, Cardiod Back-Electret Condenser Microphones (ECM)
This famous, highly respected and widely used vintage back-electret condenser microphone was designed and made by Sony (Model # ECM/C22) for Tandy Corporation (Realistic).  It is an excellent microphone design, nearly the equal of some very expensive professional-grade (and very expensive) condenser microphones.  It includes polyurethane wind ("pop") filters and 3-wire detachable XLR cables (though terminated in a 1/4-inch connector for unbalanced-line use, but
easily
changed to full XLR connection if desired for slightly less noise and increased sensitivity) and mike stand holders.  The mike cables are around 10-12'.  It is powered by a standard 1.5 VDC "AA" battery, but it can accept higher voltages up to 12 volts DC, resulting in lower noise and improved signal-to-noise ratio.  When new, these microphones sold for about .00 each.
Because of Sony's "back-electret" design, the moving mass is greatly reduced, resulting in superb transient response and clarity.  This was one of the hallmarks of the Sony (used by Radio Shack) design for this microphone.  This is clearly
not
a 00+ Neumann or AKG 48-volt phamtom power-supply condenser microphone, but its performance isn't actually that far behind them; only in extreme low frequencies, harmonic distortion at high output levels and signal-to-noise ratio does this inexpensive electret design lag behing the pro microphones.
These microphones have been used just a few times over the years and have been stored for the past several years in an air-conditioned cabinet at a maintained temperature of 68 degree/50% RH.  The microphones are in nearly perfect cosmetic and electromechanical condition.  They perform excellently, and the batteries were always removed when not in use.  There are few microphones in this price range that can match the performance of these microphones, and an entire test report was done in
Audio
magazine on this specific microphone, and the report is included with these items along with the owner's manual.
Ref. AR-2101332