Telefunken Elektroakustik
Telefunken Elektroakustik was founded in 2001 when founder Toni Fishman acquired the US rights to the Telefunken name. The company began by manufacturing replacement parts for vintage Telefunken microphones, beginning with the pattern-selection switch for the Ela M 251 (a plastic part that is particularly vulnerable to wear). The company quickly changed course and began producing entire microphones, retaining the mission to make historically-accurate reproduction pieces. This required tooling up to manufacture plastics, fabricate metals, and, most complex of all, to recreate the most acclaimed and sought-after microphone capsules in history.
The company’s mission to reproduce classic vintage microphones is not strictly limited to the original Telefunken line; Telefunken Elektroakustik has branched out to include some original designs, some third-party designs, and even some classic designs that were never associated with Telefunken.
The company currently maintains two product lines, both based on vacuum tube circuit designs:
- Platinum series - historic replicas of vintage mics, hand-built in Connecticut, shipped with upscale accessories and a 5-year warranty
- RFT series — inexpensive yet innovative mics, often built using imported power supplies, metalwork, and capsules
The RFT series was for a limited time marketed as a separate brand, R-F-T Funkwerk. This series of microphones included the popular M16, AK-47, and the lesser-known CM-7151 Bottle and CV-7049 reproductions.
The company’s name when incorporated in 2002 was Telefunken North America, but occasionally branded Telefunken Elektroakustik North America, and subsequently (perhaps due to their use of the domain name telefunkenusa.com) as Telefunken USA. In 2009 the company was named as the “Elektroakustik” arm of Telefunken — presumably meaning Telefunken Holding AG (headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany) — which significantly granted the company rights to trade under the Telefunken name in 27 countries worldwide. Telefunken USA took the opportunity to change its name to reflect its new place in the global market, adopting the name Telefunken Elektroakustik. The corporate website was moved to t-funk.com.
The company’s former third product line, variously known as the “Professional” or “no frills” series, offered Platinum-series microphones with simpler, less costly accessories, such as non-vintage power supplies. These microphones were often indicated by an “-F” suffix in the model name.
Current Telefunken Elektroakustik Microphones
Telefunken C-12
Telefunken Ela M 250
Telefunken Ela M 250 E
Telefunken Ela M 251
Telefunken Ela M 251E
Telefunken Ela M 260
Telefunken Ela M 270
Telefunken Ela M 80
Telefunken Ela M 80 SH
Telefunken Ela M 81
Telefunken M60 FET
Telefunken M82
Telefunken R-F-T AK47 Mk II
Telefunken R-F-T AR-51
Telefunken R-F-T AR-70
Telefunken R-F-T CU-29
Telefunken U-47
Telefunken Elektroakustik Mic Sets
Telefunken 260 Stereo Set
Telefunken 260 Field Set
Telefunken M 260 Tri-Mono
Telefunken ElaM 251E Stereo
Telefunken ElaM 251 Stereo
Telefunken AR-51 Stereo Set
Telefunken AK47 Mk II Stereo
Telefunken Copperhead Stereo Set
