Electro-Voice RE20 Broadcast Announcer's Microphone with Variable-D
ELITE tier
Electro-Voice introduced the RE20 in 1968, and it has stayed in continuous production for fifty-eight years — the microphone in front of more radio announcers than any other, and a fixture on kick drums and voiceover booths for just as long.
Origin
Made in Mexico
Warranty
3-year limited warranty to the original purchaser against defects in materials and workmanship, plus a limited lifetime warranty on the acoustic element (defined as ten years from the product's last date of manufacture), administered by Bosch. Non-transferable. Warranty override applied: the term is original-owner-only, but the RE20 is designed to be rebuilt — Electro-Voice offers a factory flat-fee service that replaces the internal element and diaphragm and returns a near-new microphone, and third-party repair specialists and DIY parts are available, giving it a serviceable lifespan measured in decades regardless of the warranty window.
Price
~$449 (Premium)
The Variable-D design cancels proximity effect through a row of ports down the steel barrel, so a presenter can move off-axis without the sound thinning or booming. The steel case is built like the broadcast infrastructure it lives in.
What sets the RE20 apart on this list is that Electro-Voice rebuilds it: a factory flat-fee service replaces the internal element and diaphragm and returns a functionally new microphone, and third-party specialists and DIY guides cover the rest. The two age-related faults — foam breakdown and a loosened internal disc — are both fully repairable rather than terminal.
Coverage runs three years plus a limited lifetime on the acoustic element. At $449 for a microphone that documented owners run for thirty and forty years, and rebuild for a fraction of replacement, the cost per year rounds toward pocket change.
It is the definition of a serviceable tool.