tonedeaf, eBay is a not-very-rational market for professional microphones. I've seen way too much variation in price based on salesmanship and not much solid information. Many ads misidentify the microphone being sold or contain other claims that are plainly wrong, but people bid anyway.
My reaction when I see a microphone disassembled to show its capsule (especially small-diaphragm models) is similar to your reaction concerning the tube. Of course capsule defects aren't always visible, but that's even more true of tube defects--they're almost always invisible.
The thing about the Schoeps M 222, though, is that the original model used the Telefunken AC 701k tube, but this was changed a few years ago along with slight changes in the power supplies. So it may be relevant to show what kind of tube the microphone has, in case the buyer is trying to put together a pair of them for stereo use.
Tubes in microphones are generally operated at rather low temperatures, so touching the glass envelope of the tube isn't as harmful as, say, touching a halogen light bulb when it's cold. The halogen bulb heats up tremendously when it's in use, which is why grease from a fingerprint can cause it to crack. What should really be kept away from probing fingers is the ultra-high-impedance input circuitry that the capsule connects to, but that is equally true with solid-state microphones.
--best regards
Topic: Schoeps Tubes ... Opinions on Pics Showing Guts (Read 5112 times)