I'm real happy with my 853Rx's. I run them into an MP2/SBM1,
and for the money, they are one of the more versatile mics out there.
you can stealth, you can run them on a stand, they have interchangeable caps..
really a nice reasonably priced solution.
frankly, I don't see myself upgrading, until I can drop say, $1500 on an
SKM-140 stereo set, or something. I like the AKG 460 / 480s too, which
are a little cheaper.
The killer on the Neumann set is another set of caps adds another
$1200 or whatever - and I know I'd want the 50s too -
I'm into my whole AT853Rx set, with 4 sets of caps for about
$350.
So until I have like $1500 I don't know what to do with,
I'll run my humble little ATs - Omni / SubCard / Card / Hyper
as the need may dictate. As Marc said, when properly powered and
utilized, they turn out some nice tapes.