Shure L2/Beta 58
A wireless handheld that Shure said sounded exactly like the cabled Beta 58, and priced to match.
Overview
Shure's pitch for the L2/Beta 58 was very specific. This handheld transmitter was built to deliver the sound of the cabled Beta 58 over a wireless link, no compromises. The company's own 1991 Studio Sound advertisement billed the system as combining "unparalleled performance freedom, consistent reliability, ruggedness, and the distinctive sound of a Shure cabled mic." That's marketing copy, but the claim underneath it is that going wireless needn't cost you the microphone you already trusted.
The L2 was not one product but a family of interchangeable transmitter heads sharing a common body. As reported in the Canadian trade press, it shipped in three versions: the L2/58 with the SM58 dynamic element, the L2/96 with the condenser element from the SM96 vocal condenser, and the L2/Beta 58 with the Beta 58 element. The heads swapped out thanks to dual-trace, gold-plated wiper contacts - no soldering, no unplugging wires. For a working band or a rental house, that was the real story: one transmitter body, three voicings, and a fast swap between them.
The Beta 58 head is a supercardioid, and Shure's period advertising made much of the true supercardioid pickup pattern as the thing that separated this model from the pack. The tighter pattern buys gain-before-feedback on loud stages. Shure claimed the L2/Beta 58 was tested acoustically through the wireless link to assure the same optimized response as the cabled unit.
Pricing put the L2/Beta 58 at the top of the L2 range. According to contemporary trade coverage, the Beta 58 version listed at $748.50 in diversity form and $613.50 non-diversity. The SM58 version came in at $666 and $532 respectively, and the SM96 version at $707 and $572.50. The Beta 58 was the premium option, and buyers paid for it.
The transmitter engineering was aimed at stage reliability. An internal-loop antenna design was used specifically to avoid handling noise and interference from the transmitter itself, and the RF section ran double-tuned output stages with a low-distortion modulated oscillator. Shure also built in "mirror-image" companding and a concealed audio gain adjustment switch, so nobody nudges the gain setting mid-set. Runtime was quoted at 12 hours on a standard nine-volt alkaline, with a lithium cell available for longer sessions.
Studio Sound (June 1991, p.28) carried Shure's claim that superstars relied on the L2/Beta 58 for demanding live work and that the system preserved the crisp, clear sound and gain-before-feedback of the cabled Beta 58. That's the manufacturer's line, repeated in a period trade ad — worth noting as the pitch, not as an independent verdict. What the trade coverage does establish cleanly is the product's place in the L Series: the L2 transmitters were designed to work with Shure L Series receivers, so the handheld was one component of a system rather than a standalone.
Collectors and working engineers chasing these today are usually after one of two things: the interchangeable-head system as a piece of early-90s modular wireless design, or a spare Beta 58 head to keep an existing L2 body alive. The gold-plated wiper contacts are the wear point to inspect on any used example, and the concealed gain switch should be checked to confirm it still works before a gig. Original list prices in the $600 - $750 range put these firmly in professional territory when new.
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