Miracles in Audio, by luck, by good choices,by design or by tweaking...


I owned a low cost headphone for many years, the Fostex TH7B, first version( a new one close version exist Fostex TH7BK), semi-open headphone...I was never completely satisfied by any headphones I ever owned: Hifiman 400, Stax basic lamda, Stax 5 gold,Akg 340,Akg 701, beyerdynamic 990, and T150... Because in each of them with all their qualities I never listen to at the same times, a confortable headphone with natural timbre and voicing, with a good imaging and a realistic soundstage(not too close to my ears)...


For the last days I tweaked this Fostex, to damp his internal resonance I used sorbothane, I put some shungite stones at the exterior part of the cups and I use some Herkimer diamond in the interior pads( 3 at 120 degree) … Now this low cost headphones crush all my others if I sum all his qualities... For example his mids and voicing cannot beat the AKG 340 but among all my other headphones it is the best that is near that mids and it is more confortable, and with longer cable than the 340...His imaging is better and more realistic than the 340 etc etc...It is the same if I compare with the others...


His most important qualities is natural timbre and clear imaging,very precise pinned point accuracy and natural, so clear it crush for that ALL the others to dust...In the French audio circle the reviews were more than very positive few years ago...Diapason d’or and choc Classica...I am not the only one impressed buy the ratio quality/price... But remember that thesae reviewers dont tweak their headphone...The difference between before and after the tweaks are staggering...


Yes Miracles happens in Audio: cost is under 100 American dollars... Few years ago they cost me 50 bucks new... I never dreamed that I will go back to headphones...


I will enjoy your miracles stories of any kind ….My best to all...
128x128mahgister
Oops!

Amother UPDATE:

I add 6 new "golden strings" 2 feet long with lava beads over my head and between speakers, for an amazing total of 65 golden strings...

The goal was to structure a dispersive sound grid, active, because of the cabled resonators and balance, by a key positioning, all aspects of sound.... It seems my pattern on the ceiling works....

It must be adapted for any specific room for sure...

Now i am near the end .... anaway i own no more lava beads , tourmaline and cone bells.... Only plenty of herkimer diamonds unused....

The passive acoustic treatment with materials cannot give what a more active one will do ever, in a small room the sound can be magnificent indeed, if we takes acoustic seriously with our own ears/hands....

For the first time in my life i enjoy music no more trying to forget the limitation of the sound quality.... And all my files are good now.... I dont select music because the files are better....Some are better but this time ALL sound good and very different from one another...

I wish the same for you all....


Important note:
I eliminate 80 % of my metal singing reflective resonators, they are replaced now by dispersive devices and resaonators.... When i put them in place it was an improvement in this small room... But after all the trasformation they were in too much great number and produce more harm than good...

Acoustic is the art to BALANCE, in a specific room and with his content, reflective and absorbent surfaces with dispersive one.... Active mini resonators plays a role also....

I keep "singing resonators" at key locations, they compensate for absorbant materials at another locations, but the main role was played now by disspersive devices and grids, with active connected mini resonators....Schumann generators cabled grid has an enomous effect to enlive the sound and the reactive resonators

My best to all....


UPDATE: 8 Tourmaline "golden strings" with an herkimer diamond at the end of the strings all connected by cable to the "Bell of Bells"

Gosh! I have no idea why this last addition of connectors is so good....Is it the H.D. ? the connection to the bells of bells? Or because these strings are between the speakers and slightly in front of them 2 feet over my head at my desk?
No idea..... :) I know what i am doing but the results are sometimes unexpected with these grids....

I amaze myself....The connection of these strings to the bell at the center of the room itself connected to my Shumann generators grid is powerful...

Gives more meat to the sound, more full bodied after all the clealiness added by the springs and the Golden plates, and it increase imaging a notch....... For the last 15 days i live trough the greatest improve in S.Q. i ever lived trough.... It is like my system which i tought it was good 1 month ago, was in reality not so good....

Twin fans grid with resonators, golden strings grids on my ceiling, more connections to the Schumann generators and last but not least, 3 golden plates on the external electrical meter of my house, the springs improvement on top of my "sandwiches" under my speakers all that is amazing...All that in the same 15 days is an increase in the 3 embeddings at the same times, mechanical, electrical and acoustical....

Embeddings are all Audio, the rest is consumerism and ignorance indeed....

:)

note: all my increase in S.Q. are always true in near listening and regular listening.....
UPDATE: 8 Tourmaline "golden strings" with an herkimer diamond at the end of the strings all connected by cable to the "Bell of Bells"

In my last post i made an error the 8 strings were lava beads...

Now i decided to connect in the same way the 8 tourmaline strings up from my head in the regular listening position... The 8 lava beads connected in my precedent post are up over my head in nearfield listening...

When we are near the ultimate potential S.Q. of our audio system, and it seems to be the case for me, improvement are possible and audible but subtle and even if they are no more so spectacular, anyway the improvement is audible easily with a very complex sound recording i own, "Holy Harmony" of Jonathan Goldmann.... It is made of many tuned forks frequencies spinning around the room with subtle chimes that you will not hears if your system is not good...I hear them more clearly and the spinning frequencies are now more spinning than pulsating around my head...

Organ works of Bach are also very good to help the relation between bass and higher frequencies scale evaluations...
When the full frequencies spectrum is listening to without too much emphasis on a part of the scale in detriment to some other parts, with no jump but smoothness between rung of the scale, you are near the goal....

I am now on the limit of any other possible increase in S.Q. with these speakers.... If i was in the mood and with the money to upgrade it will be these vey good speakers, not the amplifier first nor the dac...The problem is this 7 inches driver deliver bass so deep and so clear i hear it with my stomach... What will be the price of speakers improving the higher frequencies and maintaining this bass without lacking in the mid frequencies and able to deliver imaging and holographic soundstage on par or better? Many THOUSANDS of dollars you can be sure.... Not bad for 50 dollars used speakers 25 years old at least....

I am happy with what i have, but all audiophile dream about some upgrade...I am not different...But in my case i HAD a good S.Q. already then i am not in frustration at all....

The problem and his answer are written on one line :

Embed everything rightfully before upgrading anything at all.....

You will be surprize how good what your own system already is....
Update about the last update


:)

I decided to connect the 2 ends of the 8 tourmaline interconnected strings with 2 different cables and not only one, connecting the 2 cables to the bell of bells... It is audible and better....

I feel the bass organ notes in the air.....Oufff...

I will connect now the 2 ends of the lava beads strings that over my head in nearfield listening.... Only one end of the interconnected strings were connected to the Bell of bells ...

I just will :)
And the audible results are more meat to the sound without any l loss in any frequencies on the contrary better mids frequencies and more bass....Amazing yes....Totally amazing improved soundstage innear listening for now....A cd i just listen to many times for the last 2 days....

My grid of interconnected "golden strings" diffusor and resonators, connected at the same time to the "Bell of bells" and to the grid of schumann Generator are my best creations, "golden plates" in second....They partly solve the problems linked to the 2 main embeddings...My "sandwiches" and the springs under speakers solve partly the mechanical embedding....I will try to improve that.... :)

Just when i was thinking that this was the end....

I already have an another idea to use , my homemade own " tuned damping mass" for my speakers in one month .... I wait for the materials....

I am nut yes, but i am serene....

Remember the cost of my audio system is 400 dollars the materials to improve it is many times higher even homemade but the results exceed more average system by more than one head.... I know that.... And the upgrading will be at least many times this cost and i am glad how the system is anyway now....

:)
I think that the grid of "Golden strings" activated resonators and diffusor devices create a kind of feed back from the direct sound and with the reflected sound, thanks to the Bell of bells connected to the Schumann Generators....

What i hear comes not only directly from the speakers but from a sound coming from all directions and diffused and resonated through the strings and amplified by the Schumann generators grid...It is what i call ACTIVE ACOUSTIC CONTROLS, and i dont know who else except me use this concept.... :) If you know someone else wrote to me...
PASSIVE ACOUSTIC TREATMENT is not so powerful indeed being passive.... In a small room the active controls make us able to neutralize all the problems linked to the content and geometry of the room....They are my most important discovery....

I am no scientist.... But the changes are flabbergasting indeed....

3 years ago i was looking for the best speakers my money can afford, i even buy a supposed better amplifier than my actual Sansui, another Sansui, and i was not sure about the dac i was just pruchasing....

Like all of us i was in the upgrading race, not knowing the SIMPLE AUDIOPHILE LAWS i paid dearly to learn:



The first law,
which is the most fundamental audiophile law:
" Dont upgrade before embedding it"

Second law:"
There exist 3 embeddings dimensions" : MECHANICAL(resonance-vibrations), ELECTRICAL (noise level of any links and general noise floor of the house), ACOUSTICAL ( the known passive materials standard way and the underestimated active controls ways)

Third law:
"The more uplifting upgrading effects are most of the time linked to the controls of the embeddings dimensions, except most of the times if you go to a higher rung with a purchase of E.C."

Fourth law:
" All electronic components (E.C.) roughly are distributed on a 3 rungs scale of ratio quality/price, and the S.Q. ratio decrease or increase in a non linear way with these 3 steps, (low, medium, high or a Gaussian with a non normal distribution if you wish)"

Fifth law:
" Any upgrade with a new E.C. on the same rung as a past E.C. will result most of the time in a low increase of S.Q. at best if there is one, compared to big increase in S.Q. with a more rightful way to embed the components you already owns"

Sixth law:
" Then, dont upgrade anything before you have rightly embedded all and everything"

Then this circle of laws is closed....