dgale and taperj...addressing a couple of points from your latest responses in the YS thread discussion on the km184 vs km140...
I really don't know what are the real sonic differences between a km184 and km140 with active electronics. However, my earlier comment was from a simplistic perspective; that putting a 15 foot cable and additional electronics in between the mic and the body makes it a different microphone. That may or may not lead to a difference in sound...I just don't know. My earlier point was simply that I could accept that the active components COULD be a reasonable explanation for why I have experienced what I believe to be a different sound between the 184s and the 140s.
Having said this, it's my understanding that active electronics in alot of mics are much more than simply a cable and a couple of connectors (thus the high price for a set of actives). Seems I read that Neumann and Schoeps actives have some basic differences in how they function, but the basic concept, as I understand, is that the electronics components inside the connectors helps to stabilize (and perhaps amplify?) the signal along the 15 foot length of cable.
OK, so taking my initial hypothesis forward, I can't understand how it can be stated that a km184 is the same microphone as the km140 with actives, when there's additional cables, connectors, and electronics in the 140 signal path. To me, that makes them different microphones with the possibility of having differences in sonics due to the additional components (albeit those differences may be slight).
Heck, even Grace acknowledges that the V2 and V3 can sound different (with the V3 in analog mode) because even though the V3 is the same preamp design, they acknowledged that some materials were changed inside the V3 box (can't remember details.) Another example is that alot of ts.com people hear a difference between silver cables and copper cables. So, if changing materials inside a preamp or cables can make a sonic difference to people, shouldn't it stand to reason that a 140 could sound different from a 184 if you add cables, connectors, and electronics between the capsule and body? Logically, I'd say 'of course', but realistically, I'd like to hear some controlled comps.