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U87 capsule replacement [message #85716]

Wed, 24 August 2005 11:32

Labs
Messages: 30
Registered: April 2004
Location: Denmark

Member

Hi!
Ive written neumann, but no reply,so Im trying here. the only mail adresses I could find at neumanns webpage was for suggestions and manufacture dating (feel free to tell me Im blind if theres a generel contact link there)

I need a replacement for a broken U87 capsule. How much do they normally run, and where can I get one in europe? Before you tell me to contact my local distributor I have to say that thats not an option. I could almost get a working U87 on ebay for the prices they would charge me domesticly.

Any suggestions for an alternative replacement are very velcome as well.

Thanks!
Gustav

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Re: U87 capsule replacement [message #85742 is a reply to message #85716 ]

Wed, 24 August 2005 12:39

Mike Mermagen
Messages: 74
Registered: December 2004

Member

Gustav,
One option is to buy a new capsule at:

http://www.musicians-gear.com/

and install it yourself or by someone locally who knows how to do it.

They have the K87 and K870 depending on which model U87 you have.

The other option is a custom rebuild, but the cost is not that much less than the new capsule and it won't really be a u87 anymore.

Mike

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Re: U87 capsule replacement [message #85752 is a reply to message #85716 ]

Wed, 24 August 2005 13:01

David Satz
Messages: 644
Registered: April 2004
Location: Brooklyn, NY

Gold Member

Gustav, certainly it is expensive to have a U 87 capsule replaced by Neumann, but in truth the cost is scarcely half of what a used U 87 generally sells for on eBay at least here in the United States. And if you are talking about a U 87Ai then it is less than half, since those microphones are all newer and they bring higher prices at auction (if their photos and "back story" are nice).

You can get a raw Neumann capsule from a few mail order sources in Europe, but you'd better be experienced in the proper handling of such things if you want to install it yourself. Again, your savings will not be so great. Furthermore, if well informed people are looking to buy a used microphone and they learn that its capsule has been replaced, they will want to know precisely who did that work. So you could perhaps save 100 Euro or so now, only to lose that savings later if you need to sell the microphone.

--I just went to the Web site mentioned in the other reply; the cost of a new K 87 capsule listed there, with the German value added tax, is very close to what Neumann USA currently is charging in total for the replacement capsule plus labor. So if the labor charges in Germany are similar to those here, you wouldn't save even the 100 Euro that I had imagined. And any good professional repair service, including that of Neumann, will not only replace the capsule but will also check the microphone in all other respects, so that it is at its best performance and is more reliable afterward.

--best regards

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Re: U87 capsule replacement [message #85785 is a reply to message #85752 ]

Wed, 24 August 2005 14:19

Labs
Messages: 30
Registered: April 2004
Location: Denmark

Member

Thanks a lot for your reply.
I do have someone who can help me install the new capsule, so Im not so worried about that part, and when I talk about my domestic prices I am talking about Danish pricing, not German. If Neumann turns out to respond with a reasonable price for the capsule I'll go that way, but the Danish price I've been quoted is plain stupid (They often are here)

Mike Mermagen wrote on Wed, 24 August 2005 13:39

Gustav,
One option is to buy a new capsule at:
http://www.musicians-gear.com/

Thanks a lot. The pricing I'm seeing here for the K87 and K870 are much more reasonable. It does worry me that there are a lot of other 87 and 870 models that come a lot closer to the prices I've been quoted (altough they are still not all the way up there)

for example:
KK870MT SW
KK870 NI

Anything I should know there ? Or just get a K87 or K870 depending on model and not worrie so much about that?

Gustav

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Re: U87 capsule replacement [message #85799 is a reply to message #85785 ]

Wed, 24 August 2005 14:57

Klaus Heyne
Messages: 2942
Registered: April 2004

Platinum Member

Quote:

...For example:
KK870MT SW
KK870 NI

Anything I should know there ? Or just get a K87 or K870 depending on model and not worry so much about that?

What you need to know here is that "KK87" or KK870" are not descriptions of capsules, but of whole head assemblies which also includes screen, switches, capsule mount, etc.

The correct parts-description of just a Neumann replacement U87 capsule is:

"K87" (for the old-style U87i), part # 53224 and
"K870/K67" (the current U87Ai), part #53225

That means any price charged for a 'KK87" will most likely be almost twice the price of the capsule by itself, regardless of country where you buy it. That probably was the reason for your confusion.

Also, make sure you do not buy the wrong capsule: K87 is not interchangeable with K870!

A final word on pricing:
The air is out of the gray marketeers who in the past could save customers as much as half on Neumann products and parts.
Unfavorable dollar/euro exchange rates and a more aggressive distribution enforcement by Neumann/Sennheiser put an end to that.

Klaus Heyne
German Masterworks
www.GermanMasterworks.com

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Re: U87 capsule replacement [message #85934 is a reply to message #85799 ]

Thu, 25 August 2005 08:16

Labs
Messages: 30
Registered: April 2004
Location: Denmark

Member

I never expected this to be exceptionally cheap, but like I said - The price I was quoted here in Denmark was closing in on the price of a secondhand U87, so I had to ask for an alternative source.
( I have checked now. It was capsule only)

Thanks for the help guys !
Gustav

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