They are not great sounding but they do sound like classic ribbon microphones. I hear a little of that "boxy" effect around 250 hertz, that I personally don't much care for. But if I didn't have my current ribbons, I'd definitely pick up a couple of these. I also believe that they are a single large geometry ribbon. The Beyer 130/160 dual ribbons and the 77 DX are short geometry ribbon's. The RCA BK 44 is a large geometry ribbon. Wes Dooley says he can't make any 77 DX short geometry ribbon's that sound consistent enough from unit to unit. So that 77 DX that the features actually has a large geometry BK 44 style ribbon in it and not quite a 77 DX reproduction. It's just for the look so you can add the capsule of your choice within the body.

Not quite sure with their asymmetrical figure of 8 that these would be appropriate for Blumlien or even MS since he indicated that "no figure of 8 microphone is exactly even both front to back". I don't believe that to be true to the extent that he indicated. My Beyer M130 seems to be quite consistent with its front to back polar patterns and so do my 77 DX's, of course those have variable pattern capabilities with its mechanical adjustment. So those, I guess, can be made to mimic the polar patterns of the Cascades, should someone desire to do so?

You need to get your ribbons as it's so close to Christmas time
Ms. Remy Ann David

Thanks for the input Remy. I understand I'm not going to get Beyers or RCAs, but I figure that if this will give me the character of a ribbon it will hold me for a while until Alice is out of college or gets a lot of scholarship money. (She got word of admission and audition passes from the Duquesne and Georgia music schools. Still have several month until we hear about financial aid.)

On the symmetry issue, I'd think that would matter a lot more on MS than on Blumlein, which would have side to side symmetry - if not front to back - as long as the mics were reasonably matched. I've been using Blumlein more than MS anyway. Might be just laziness on my part, but I've liked the image, and I haven't been in a situation where mono compatibility is really crucial. (I assume that is (or at least was) a big deal in broadcast work.)