In this letter to the editor, the author comments on the story “The EV 635A Heads Into the Sunset.” Radio World welcomes letters to the editor on this or any story. Email [email protected].
The microphone I wonder about is the Western Electric 640AA. It is still one of the finest microphones ever made. Read a description of its history.
Radio World contributor Dan Slentz also sends this link, courtesy of Stan Coutant, which has many pictures, inside and out, of the model.
It had replaced the original 640A because of temperature change effects. That was most important because of the use of the device as a lab instrument as well as a microphone for broadcast — and probably recording as well.
I have no idea if any of them still exist, but since they were a standard instrument used in acoustical science and engineering, perhaps there is one in a lab somewhere. The only one I ever encountered was in Symphony Hall in Boston, which is one of the acoustically best concert venues in the world.
It was not in use by the late 1950s, as stereo had appeared, and although it was still in place hung from the venue’s ceiling, it had been replaced with — I believe — a pair of Telefunken/Neuman U47s. The person who knows the history far better than I is Kevin Mostyn, of BiCoastal Broadcasting, from his time as chief engineer of classical WCRB(AM/FM) in Waltham/Boston.
The Altec-Lansing M21 microphone used a condenser element that was either identical or very similar to that of the 640AA, since Altec was a “successor” to WECO, and took over manufacture of the 639 and the “saltshaker” microphones. The late Jack Sellmeyer had a mint condition one in his collection, but I don’t know if his wife, Janine, and the boys still have it.
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