48v straight to the capsules would fry them,period. The mics are manufactued by AT with a mini xlr on each and 25' cables, designed to run off of their AT power modules or off of a board/pre that supplies phantom power in conjunction with an adaptor, these mics are designed really as "hanging choir mics". The only reason that the 853s were/are terminated into a single mini plug is because Sound Pros was/is selling them like this to offer a cheaper setup to the public, by cheaper i mean mics terminated together and ran from one of their "El Cheapo" 2 wire battery boxes instead of selling them separated with mini xlrs and ran from a phantom box (such as a $150-$200 PS2),with the AT/Nady/Samson adaptors ( the adaptors step down the voltage from 48v to a usable 9-12)..SP now sees this issue after all of the problems with people getting clipped recordings and has like 3 or 4 ordering options when you buy these mics now,but only one is correct..obviously the options vary in $$...again,it comes down to the almighty dollar and how much you want to spend.
There is a difference of several hundred dollars (between the single termination and a simple 2 wireBB vs. the same mics with mini xlrs,adaptors and a 3 wire box (PS2 or pre) to run them), and when people are told they will "perform the same way as 3 wire/phantom" you cant blame people for buying them, its a much cheaper option. But the truth of the situation is that this is the incorrect way to run them, they do not get adequate power and will clip in moderate to high SPL situations, this is the reason certain people came up with the "4.7k" mod, to compensate for the fact that the mics were being ran incorrectly to begin with.
Its not really a complicated situtation, 3 wire mics should be ran 3 wire..simple as that.
The reason for the ongoing debate is that people were trying to take inexpensive shortcuts initially and are constantly spreading mis-information,to their benefit,..of course. And that when it is said that the 853s are being "modded" (or modded for high spl, by "adding mini xlrs and adaptors"), its not really "modding" them, its simply restoring them to the way they were made by AT, the real "mod" is running them 2wire (incorrect) the way there are sometimes sold.
im not trying to knock anyone, im just stating the facts.