Golden age GA ELA M 251E

The GA ELA M 251E is a tube microphone offered by the Black Lion Audio brand.

GA ELA M251E: Get to know the legend!

After three years of hard work, we have finally recreated one of the most iconic vintage tube microphones in recording history: the Telefunken ELA M 251E, considered by many to be the most beautiful microphone ever produced.

Our process of recreating this legendary microphone included the following steps:

Reverse-engineering the polarity switching mechanism
We reverse-engineered the polarity switching mechanism, which features a complex mechanical structure and assembled by hand. This process required creating several sets of difficult-to-manufacture plastic molds. The mechanism uses silver rivets, silver spring parts, precision steel balls, springs with appropriate elasticity, finely machined pure copper positioning pins, slotted nuts, etc., to restore the mechanism Original polarity switch with good operating feeling.

Retro engineering of electronic components
We reverse-engineered the insulating plastic substrate for internal point-to-point soldering and made a new mold for it. We also manufactured new silver plated copper wiring lugs, silver plated copper terminals, silver plated copper contact springs, etc. The result is an amplifier circuit capable of operating with near-zero loss, delivering sublimated, full and extremely musical sound quality with deep bass and well-controlled high frequencies.

Remanufacturing of rubber cores and connectors
We remade the rubber cores for the plugs, and the silver plated connectors are aviation connectors to minimize signal transmission loss.

Design and structural restorations
We redid the original color design of the head, front and rear, and restored the assembly of all structures. All replacement parts are compatible with the original ELAM251E, including power specifications and wiring.

Development of the K251 capsule
Three years of repeated comparisons, problem solving, customization and improvement have gone into the K251 capsule. It is tailor-made for the GA ELA M 251E and its performance is virtually the same as the CK12 capsule found in the first year of production version of the vintage ELA M 251E. The tolerance between different capsules is +/-0.5 dB, and between the front and back of a capsule is +/-0.2 dB.

Careful selection of components
Considerable work has gone into sourcing the best components, resulting in a sound performance very close to many vintage originals.

Maintaining signal integrity
To maintain the highest signal integrity, all internal connection points are silver plated. Internal wiring is made with silver plated and Teflon insulated wire.

Regarding the capsule:
The K251 style capsule used in the GA ELA M 251E is the Golden Age Premier version of the CEK12 style capsule used in the vintage microphone. We analyzed a CEK12 capsule from a vintage ELA M microphone from the first year of production and obtained all the determining parameters such as pressure response curve, sensitivity, and bias voltage. A K251 style capsule was designed, tested, compared to the performance of the vintage model, then adjusted and refined over numerous listening sessions until achieving a sonic character very close to an original ELA M.

At the end of this incredible sound quest, we are proud to note that the sound quality and character of the GA ELA M 251E are infinitely close to those of a model from the first year of production of the ELA M251E, with a sound of a incomparable warmth and splendor, and treble of simply incredible purity.