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
I just ordered an 8 pack of Marigo VTS Dots for my SONY MDR-V700 headphones. The VTS Tuning Dots are constrained layer dampers of various sizes and colors - 2 mm up to about 1” depending on application. Larger VTS Dots are for walls and windows, sliding glass doors, back panel of TV, speaker cabinets, the small ones which vary in size and color go on speaker frames, circuit boards, power cord plugs, chassis of preamp and CD player, CD tray, what have you. Tony the Tiger 🐯 says, Grrrreat!
I put piece of sorbothane inside the speakers around the woofer and tweeters, with success too at much less cost...
I surely will buy these wood blanks and try them to tune something … Good idea to experiment with...Thanks Geoff...
In this business there is such a thing as being too cheap. No offense to anyone living or dead. It’s a risk-reward situation. 
In this business there is such a thing as "your ears are your best friend"... No offense to anyone wanting to be deaf. But it is a risk reward-situation.