Toni Roger Fishman, the founder of renowned microphone manufacturer Telefunken Elektroakustik, sadly passed away on 12 July 2024 at his vacation cottage near the company’s headquarters in South Windsor, Connecticut.
In 2000, Toni purchased an ELA M 251, one of the world’s most sought-after microphones, and set about replacing its broken polar pattern switch — a common issue with the original units. After discovering there was no suitable replacement available to purchase, he decided to make his own, and had the idea of reviving the historic brand in the process! After acquiring the rights to the Telefunken name and iconic logo for use in North America and recreating the switch, he went on to reverse engineer the rest of the design and rebuilding it to its original specification. The newly created 251 was first showcased at the 2002 Audio Engineering Society convention, where its remarkable accuracy to the original design was met with widespread praise. It later went on to win the 2003 Technical and Creative Excellence TEC Award for Studio Microphone Technology.
A whole host of other classic designs followed, with the company meticulously recreating the likes of the AKG C12 and Neumann U47, along with the R-F-T Series — a range of models that merged vintage-inspired designs with modern manufacturing processes. After over a decade in production, the company overhauled the R-F-T Series line-up and rebranded it as the Alchemy Series, introducing a number of enhancements to the components, power supplies and circuitry design, along with an updated grille and improved accessories. Their first transistor-based offering appeared in 2015 in the form of the M60 FET, which along with the valve-based ELA M 260 now make up the company’s Small Diaphragm Series.
Today, Telefunken Elektroakustik also includes a number of dynamic designs, as well as branching out from microphones with a selection of high-quality DI boxes, and even a plug-in recreation of the Echomixer, a preamp, distortion and spring reverb unit originally launched in the 1960s.
The company’s administrative team have issued the following statement:
“Toni was a visionary leader and founder, and an integral part of our company from day one. This news is deeply saddening for all of us here. Toni was not just the owner, but also a mentor and friend to many. His vision, passion and dedication were the driving force behind our success, and his absence is deeply felt by all of us. Despite our loss of Toni, we will carry on. It was Toni’s wish that our company continue to create the finest audio equipment in the world. Our entire team will work together to ensure that operations continue smoothly. We have a strong and capable team, and we are confident in our ability to navigate through this difficult time.”
