Mercenary Audio started as a used gear brokerage back in 1989... from there we grew into a used gear dealership [in other words we bought the stuff, fixed it up then offered it for purchase]. During the beginning years there was a lot of real crap on the market [there still is] but a growing subculture of boutique audio hardware manufacturers began to spring up... many building excellent products!!

During the early 1990's we began to work closely with several of these manufacturers from Crane Song LTD. to Empirical Labs to Great River Electronics, Royer Labs and many other companies that are now household [studio hold?] names.

It was from these associations that we met many of the world's finest audio hardware designers... helped their companies get off the ground and grew relationships based on mutual respect and admiration for our respective work.

It is from these relationships that the KM-69 came to exist. There are other products in the queue which will bloom over the next several years... all of which will have been thoroughly tested in our in house studio [The METHods and Applications LABoratory] and like the Mercenary Editions released by other manufacturers, these units will be of the highest caliber in terms of audio and build quality.

The KM-69 started as an answer to the lack of availability of old Neumann KM-84's in good condition... then we got a little side tracked. We loved the "velvet" that the KM-84 could produce, but wanted something with a tad more "shimmer" to the very tippy top of the audio spectrum. We were originally looking for a great Hi Hat mic... which then turned into a mic that was great for overheads as well as acoustic instruments as varied as piano, acoustic guitars, mandolin, traditional string instruments [Cello, Violin, etc.] and had great transient response [for things like percussion].

Through many hours of listening tests, close work with the mic's actual designer, and a whole bunch of trial and error we feel we hit on a great sounding product... hope you'll feel the same!!!