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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
mahgister's avatar
mahgister OP
13,214 posts
 
I am a convert to crystals, they worked in many fashions, alone or together, linked or not, in powder or rock-form, and they act on all feature of the sounds dependant on their implementation in a particular location...Your customers tells the truth indeed...I am amazed by the many ways they can act, for today it was this powder glued pieces of paper that was so powerful, in dissolving the residue of electronic glare around the sound unbeknownst to me that I had in my system even after all my tweaks with crystals... Perhaps you must investigate this tweak with powder and replicate it Geoff...I am sure that you will sell many...I will buy some more...



My stones linked grid and the S.G. with stones linked to the grid makes many things right on their own and cannot be replace by the powder crystals bands but the inverse is true also, the crystals grid cannot in his actual form in my system gives to me this smoothness that's gives to me these crystals powder bands on strategic spots...Then they are many complementary embeddings and implementations of the crystals in an audio system... All are necessary...



geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Crystals 301

Piezoelectricity is the electric charge that accumulates in certain solid materials (such as crystals, certain ceramics, and biological matter such as bone, DNA and various proteins)[1]in response to applied mechanical stress. The word piezoelectricity means electricity resulting from pressure and latent heat. It is derived from the Greek word πιέζειν; piezein, which means to squeeze or press, and ἤλεκτρον ēlektron, which means amber, an ancient source of electric charge.[2][3] French physicists Jacques and Pierre Curie discovered piezoelectricity in 1880.[4]

The piezoelectric effect results from the linear electromechanical interaction between the mechanical and electrical states in crystalline materials with no inversion symmetry.[5] The piezoelectric effect is a reversible process: materials exhibiting the piezoelectric effect (the internal generation of electrical charge resulting from an applied mechanical force) also exhibit the reverse piezoelectric effect, the internal generation of a mechanical strain resulting from an applied electrical field. For example, lead zirconate titanate crystals will generate measurable piezoelectricity when their static structure is deformed by about 0.1% of the original dimension. Conversely, those same crystals will change about 0.1% of their static dimension when an external electric field is applied to the material. The inverse piezoelectric effect is used in the production of ultrasonic sound waves.[6][

mahgister's avatar
mahgister OP
13,214 posts
 
Piezoelectric effect explaining this effect of crystals ? I dont know, you are the scientist not me...But if it is so, then the human ears is a marvel and able to listen the difference pertaining to this 0.1% difference in the material affected by an electro-magnetic field in relation to his effect on sound... It is quite possible, science has already demonstrated the extraordinary resolving power of the hearing sense  in humans and animals...
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
You choose to believe the rf answer. I italicized the term Reverse Piezoelectric Effect in that comment/explanation because I wanted you to see that applying an electrical signal to crystals (the opposite of piezoelectric effect) activates the crystal vibration. This makes the crystal a better vibration damper. Crystals don’t attract, shield or absorb electromagnetic waves - I.e., radio frequencies. Crystals almost always act as resonators - I.e., resonance control devices. You are experiencing the Backfire Effect, that’s all. You have been blinded by science. 😎
thecarpathian's avatar
thecarpathian
4,950 posts
 
As coincidence would have it, I had curry lamb for lunch and am also experiencing the Backfire Effect....
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