Fi-Cord 1100

From Martin Mitchell's Microphone blog

"Throughout the 1960’s FI-CORD operated in the UK as a marketing company specialising in selling a wide range of sound reproduction equipment under the FI-CORD brand name. As far as I can tell, all of the products were made by other companies. FI-CORD are perhaps best remembered for their miniature, handheld tape recorders. "

MoMics view

The Fi-Cord 1100 is identical to the MB301 ribbon microphone which was made by Mikrofonebau in West Germany. These microphones uses a a pistonic ribbon much like then Beyer microphones, but the motor is completely different. The Beyer M260 uses four glued rectangular magnets to make the motor,  but the MB301 employs a single large cast ferrous horseshoe magnet. In this respect it looks more like an RCA BK5 or Oktava ML19, or perhaps the Beyer M360. The ribbon itself is larger than that found in the Beyer M260.

Although we have not found any direct advertising or manuals for the Fi-Cord 1100, our best guess is that this re-branded model was sold around 1966 to 1967. In 1965 F-Cord was advertsing dynamic and ribbon microphones made by Beyer, and in 1968 it was selling re-badged Calrec condenser microphones. The following summary of Mikrofonbau products appeared in Wireless World in April 1968.

The MB301 appears in the Hi-Fi yearbook in 1966, 1967 and 1968.,

From Wireless World, April 1968.

Impedance: 200 ohms

Pattern: Cardioid

Front to back ratio: 20 dB

Sensitivity at 1 kHz, (ref. 10V/ Nm^-2): 2mV/N/m^-2

Additional information from German Funk-Technik magazine, 1966., Vol 13:

Impedance: 200 ohms

Frequency response: 40 to 18 000 Hz ± 2.5 dB.

Rejection at 180° about 20 dB, Sensitivity (at 1 kHz) 0.11 mV / microbar,

Length 180 mm, basket diameter 50 mm, weight 300 g

A post about the Fi-Cord 1100 / MB301 at the Xaudia Microphone Blog