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


Third UPDATE:

THE HELMHOLTZ MECHANICAL EQUALIZER or H.M.E.

Addition of bottles near the port hole of the speakers...







My last idea comes directly from the last acoustical research ,but i am proud to be the sole creator of my design...

We listen not to frequency like assume those who use an electronic equalizer and a mic with a tested response frequency for a PRECISE ARTIFICIAL location...

We listen to some multi dimensional complex different wavefronts, a bunch of frequencies,( like the voice timbre of a singer) coming from the tweeter, the bass drivers, and from early and late reflections in a PRECISE NATURAL time frame...

I used this fact creating my H.M.E. (Helmoltz mechanical equalizer): imagine a snake with head and tail...

The HEAD begins a few centimeters from the tweeter of one of my speakers with 2 pipes near the tweeter and 2 bottles near the port hole; then going to my left on the first reflection point with 6 pipes; then to my rear with the MAIN BODY of the snake, 8 pipes ,one 8 feet high; and then goes to the second reflection point to my right, with 6 pipes and finally ends at the TAIL, with 3 pipes near the bass driver of this speaker, with one bottle near the port hole....Asymmetric distribution of pipes and bottles and differences between them are very important at the head and tail....

Result: "listener envelopment" factor LEV and "source width" factor ASW and imaging complete optimization...

This means my 50 dollars speakers sound like almost the best speakers there is to my ears, with ONLY their design normal limitations and no more limitations from the room now... In the opposite, my room enhanced the speakers design to MY EARS (not to a mic from a mic)...

It seems   oldhvymec   were the only one to catch something about my idea with his comparison with silent organ pipe acoustical tuning in church.... This was half of my idea.... The other half is related to the way the ears/brain recreate the FIRST frontwave sound coming from the 2 speakers early and late reflections for each ear.... The gist of my idea is to control these different reflections with a qualitative control different for each ear...This is the powerful HEAD and TAIL of my acoustical snake or H.M.E. we can also reduce his name to a true "Helmholtz grid".... Speakers were not there tough at the time of Helmholtz....


Acoustic is so powerful that it is the main factor in audiophile perceived experience... The failure to understand this push the market obsession with upgrading electronics parts....There is less difference between each electronics parts at ANY cost than between electronic part in a bad or in a good room... PERIOD....

The tragedy is : it is not all people who can experience it in a dedicated room....The rest is audiophile blind history obsession with all that matter the less, cables,analog/digital,tubes/S.S. etc, at the cost of which really matter the most: acoustic....

NO ONE listen to his speakers only...We listen to our room.... The direct waves coming from the speakers are perceived, even in near listening field, MIXED with the reflections.... In my own room in one second the waves cross the room 80 times horizontally and more vertically ( my room is 13 feet square 8 1/2 feet high)....My ear/brain use a 80 milliseconds window, in which already many crossings(direct,early and late reflections) will be analyzed internally from EACH one ear... When people think that near listening field nullify the powerful impediment of their non controlled room this is completely false....Any change in my own acoustical settings were detected by me in nearfield listening or regular one position alike...

The addition of these 2 bottles to my left speaker port hole and one bottle to the right speaker enhance greatly the 3-d imaging.... I am now finished with the H.M.E.

😊
FOURTH UPDATE:

THE HELMHOLTZ MECHANICAL EQUALIZER or H.M.E.


Addition of a tube made with 7 toilet rolls paper, 20 inches, on the right corner of my loading platform on top of the right speakers (the TAIL of my snake)... I used straws of different diameters for the neck...The tube are so light they dont too much modify my tightly fine tuned speaker loading mass on top of this platform ....


Never say never to a possible change for the better.....😁😊

This addition modify greatly the soundstage and the LEV "listener envelopment" factor this time....In my 2 positions nearfield and regular listening position...

This time it is my last take.... After an undending streams of improvement, nothing more is possible....The sound fills all my room but with a better imaging and better bass ...I am sure nobody believe me that only few rolls of toilet paper can produce a HUGE improvement....

The improvement is for the 2 positions like i just said but my God! in the near listening position it is even more impactful....

People really believe that paying 100,000 bucks for speakers will give them the best sound...Sorry It will not be the case without the Queen permission...


Acoustic is a Queen without mercy ! But what a lover this sleeping princess could be....

This time i am done.... What in hell could be better? 😊😁😁😁😊😊😎😎😉





I will repeat an unbeknown truth, a room is NOT a passive set of walls waiting for some costly bass traps or an electronical equalizer... 😁 A room wait to be ACTIVATED for the EARS, by the addition of different controlling pressures zones devices acting on the normally emerging uncontrolled pressure zones created already by the coming sound in this specific room.... This is what my SNAKE, the H.M. E., do....Activating the room, transforming a dead body in a living beauty...
First REAL headphones were a present from my long deceased friend.  We were room mates at military school, and we always spent and have overly asinine presents for years, til his passing many years ago.  
   Bought me a amazing pair of Koss, or kloss?? Headphones, I still use them.

  I reciprocated a 21 year Bushmills single malt Irish Whisky,
     We always spent and gave strange presents on holidays.
        The last present he bought me before his passing was a Sherwood 5 CD carousel, which still works and sounds great.           The tray acts up a wee bit, I press close, and it closes, and immediately opens up again, sometimes 2X, but always plays great, I baby this player, a little Mobil 1 synthetic In a dropper to innards, tray slide, moving parts.  Still rocks.
mist be since very early 2000’s when I received this spinner.
     Minimal use, but, just to keep her in use.  
       Cd box sets, music, he bought me odd music, and I did same for him, to share music, I would buy hm Malmsteen, napalm death, record old NWOBHM to cd for him, and I bought him an Autechtre? Cd

    Also post passing, I acquired all his old vinyl, ‘s to latem90’s techno,  dance, rave music.
    Great stuff!


  I miss my friend!

   Only 36 or 37 years old.  

      F death
Thanks for this moving story ...

My sympathies for you lost...


My best to you...
Before talking about my last upgrading of the H.M.E. i will say three important facts and signs about any room acoustic done right, even if some will not believe me at all because it is a so incredible transformation to live through:





You know you have some great acoustical settings controls in place,





(A)- You know that you are done or almost done when none of your 7 headphones can compete anymore with your room....None of my dynamics, hybrid, electrostatic nor planar magnetic headphones...There are all in a drawer...Few years ago the same speakers were no match for them.... 😁😊

Why?

Because AN HEADPHONE SHELL IS LIKE A ROOM but like an uncontrolled room , with vibrations and resonance problem plaguing it, the electrical noise floor is there also waiting to be decreased and the acoustical volume of this shell is like a room with his untamed pressure zones...... They need total controls like any room.... But it is very difficult to install the three embeddings controls in a shell....I know it, i modified with some success ALL my headphones when i begins my journey 7 years ago... At this time i believe that it will be impossible for me to create a very good speakers system that will beat a good headphone, especially with 50 bucks used speakers like the one i use now .... They are vintage one and very good one, Mission Cyrus 781, BUT i believe with the knowledge i had that they will be under par with any good headphone...It was true in the beginning BEFORE i created my own solutions to the three dimensions working embeddings controls.... Then i bought 9 pairs of headphone and keep 7 of them with the passing years....Things begins to change a little 2 years ago....And change seriously with the H.M.E.







(B)- You know that you are done or almost done when your regular listening position became better than even the nearfield position, on par with details but more LIVELY and more natural with a soundstage encompassing you in the 2 positions...





(C)- You know that you are done or almost done WHEN your 2 way stereo system in some case, relatively to some well recorded cd, sometimes will give you the total illusion that you have listened to FOUR SPEAKERS not 2...Voices or instruments comes directly sometimes in each one of your ear or inside your head or coming from your back while the 2 speakers are all this time however in front of you....






When these 3 experiences are yours.... You are done with acoustical settings or almost, because there is always a small or not so small improvement possible for sure.... Like the one i will speak about in my next post....


😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😎😎😎😎😎😎😎