MXL V69 Mods

The V-69 ME is a confusing microphone. It is sold as a tube mic, but its circuit is  mostly not a tube circuit. That is, it has a tube, but the tube's output goes through two transistor stages also, making it a hybrid tube/FET mic. It seems to avoid having the "best of both worlds," though; rather, we find that it lacks the positive sonic attributes of either tube or solid-state circuits.

The stock circuit is too complex to fix. We considered replacing it with a superior tube circuit, but the V69 chassis does not provide enough physical room for the tube, an output transformer, and a nice output capacitor.

Customers seeking a world-class tube microphone should see the 12-251 and V-251 kits, both of which have been very favorably compared to vintage European tube mics.

If you own a V69 ME that you find to be too noisy, too bright/peaky, unbalanced, harsh, or distorted, we do have a unique solid-state upgrade available -- new as of late 2022.

Introducing the V-69 FET

Given the space constraints inside the mic, we prefer a fantastic FET circuit to a compromised tube circuit. That is the idea behind our new V-69 FET circuit kit.

It is based on our best-selling T-84 circuit, but incorporates several changes to maximize tone, such as running a specifically selected vintage JFET at higher voltage in order to create more transformer coloration. We upgraded capacitors throughout the circuit, optimizing for sound, rather than budget. The result is a stunning microphone that will outperform many $1000+ microphones on vocals and guitar cab.