Opinions on Astatic minuteman 2 please

[Damo666]

As the title indicates, what's the audio quality like on the "minuteman 2". It will be paired with a Superstar 3900el. Thanks in advance.

 

[WR0220]

Excellent microphones..I have 2 of them. They use the same element as the 575M6 but don't have the tone control. They offer clean, crisp articulate audio - BUT - if you turn the gain up more then about 25% you will pick up a lot of background noise. I run mine at about 20% gain w/50% gain on the radio and have no problem with background noise. The only 'drawback' are the 7.5 volt batteries - kinda hard to find and expensive. An alternative is to use 5 button batteries stacked in the battery holder - easy to find and not as expensive.

 

[Robb]

Excellent microphones..I have 2 of them. They use the same element as the 575M6 but don't have the tone control. They offer clean, crisp articulate audio - BUT - if you turn the gain up more then about 25% you will pick up a lot of background noise. I run mine at about 20% gain w/50% gain on the radio and have no problem with background noise. The only 'drawback' are the 7.5 volt batteries - kinda hard to find and expensive. An alternative is to use 5 button batteries stacked in the battery holder - easy to find and not as expensive.

I would echo the same. The Astatic MMII's aren't as easy to come by any more, and the one I have is badly worn and in need of a lot of TLC. It needs a new cable, resoldering parts, and massive general clean-up. But they modulate sweetly if adjusted carefully. If stationary when transmitting, they sound like a D104/TUP9 - really nice! Great 'presence' and room ambience is noticed. When mobile, uhhh-hehe, it picks up everything unless you turm them waay down low.

The battery problem is solved as mentioned: stacking cheaper 5/1.5v's. The last time I went to Radio Shack for the battery replacement, they wanted $10+ for this little stinkin' battery. I'd hate to find out what a premium battery would cost at another high-end store - probably $15 or more. That's outrageous!

 

[Robb]

Excellent microphones..I have 2 of them. They use the same element as the 575M6 but don't have the tone control. They offer clean, crisp articulate audio - BUT - if you turn the gain up more then about 25% you will pick up a lot of background noise. I run mine at about 20% gain w/50% gain on the radio and have no problem with background noise. The only 'drawback' are the 7.5 volt batteries - kinda hard to find and expensive. An alternative is to use 5 button batteries stacked in the battery holder - easy to find and not as expensive.

I would echo the same. The Astatic MMII's aren't as easy to come by any more, and the one I have is badly worn and in need of a lot of TLC. It needs a new cable, resoldering parts, and massive general clean-up. But they modulate sweetly if adjusted carefully. If statioary when transmitting, they sound like a D104/T9 - really nice! The battery problem is solved as mentioned: stacking cheaper 1.5's. The last time I went to Radio Shack for the battery replacement, they wanted $10+ for this little stinkin' battery.