never heard of these mics, they look pretty awesome for the price if they sound good!
Honestly, I was VERY skeptical... I was planning on buying a mic in the $1300+ range, but a guy on Gearslutz turned me on to Stellar and there was a guy selling both mics in the classifieds, with NOS tubes in them, for a good price, so I decided it was worth the risk.
Honestly, SUPER happy. I've never used a mic that didn't have that "Chinese top end" that cost under $1500 or more, but neither of these have it. I though the differences would be much more drastic between the two (one's supposedly a U47 clone and the other a C800), but I find them to compliment eachother very well. Could just be the tubes in it, though. I was expecting one to be much more rounded and the other to brighter, but the differences aren't quite that large, at least on mine. Both sound fantastic, though, I still haven't decided which I prefer on my voice, but the CM-5 sounds pretty epic on my acoustic (not that the 6 is worse, though!)
For the price, honestly I don't think you can go wrong. They're the same concept as the Advanced Audio mics, except they're sold directly from the manufacturer, so they're WAY cheaper. Same quality of parts, and in some cases, even better parts. I've heard changing the grille basket on them can do wonders, too, which is something I might consider down the line.
So far, very pleased with them. Much better than any other LDC I've owned and equally as usable as the vintage U87 I've used on several occasions.
As far as the rest of your budget is concerned - I'd buy the SM7b used for ~$250 and then spend $600 on a Seventh Circle Audio N72 in a One-Shot Chassis. That gives you $415-500 for the Stellar, $250 for the SM7b and $600 for the N72. Little overbudget, but well worth it IMO. Warm Audio is a cool mic, but an API style pre wouldn't be my first choice for every vocalist. Neve would kill on vocals and guitar, and the N72 is one of the best you can buy, and at $600 is a STEAL.
