2. misc-audio
  3. 150390-100071

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
13,207 posts
 
A simple remark about noise level and electronics:

Each piece of electronic you add, is an ACTIVE component, being a capacitor, transistor ,filter etc and will add noise OF HIS OWN MAKING to the noise level...

If you add a stone you add a PASSIVE component that would not add any noise of his own...


Then the filtering general effect of each stone must be finetuned to the specific needs of each electrical grid and each audio system, sometimes this will not be optimal, but the stone is PASSIVE and dont add noise to the general noise level of the system...This is very important to understand...


A conditioner for example will filter your line BUT will add a noise of his own, killing dynamic in some case etc...Myself I use a conditioner but I use stones to compensate his own negative effect... Then with the right stones  all is better... Samething with a bettery noise ...etc
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,511 posts
 
Hey well that's what experiments are for ie to help confirm how things work and go from there.



mahgister's avatar
mahgister OP
13,207 posts
 
My description here with the words I use like "filtering" for example has ABSOLUTELY no scientific pretense at all... It is only a way to describe and convey to others and explain with words to myself what is going on metaphorically... Someone else will describe it differently with his own vocabulary... Someone more a scientist can explain it perhaps at a detailed scientific level...But i dont think that this person is on this forum... There is not much literature,if there is some, about audio and stones and crystals inserted in an electrical audio grid relatively to sound perception...


mahgister's avatar
mahgister OP
13,207 posts
 
A LAST THING, remember that audiophiles are sometimes ready to pay big money for a little change in their imaging or soundstage or bass etc...


I am also an amateur of good sound but I dont have big money... The change I observe toward improvement and a better musical experience were sometimes spectacular in my audio system and way more astounding sometimes than just a normal upgrading effect... My system nude without nothing to improve the electrical grid, the acoustic of the room, without controls of the bad resonance, my system before is no comparison at all with his state after...


The money I pay in trials and errors to pick the right headphone, the right dac, the right amplifier ,the right speakers were a few thousand dollars... But the cost of my actual system of choice is around 600 bucks in total perhaps less...( I bought TOTL vintage and used except the dac)


The cost to improve it to his optimal level is around a 600 bucks for the different stones only...The cost for treating my room is low and homemade, same thing for the cost of vibrations controls except for some more costly product...

ALL in ALL the cost of the " therapeutical" means must be equal to the cost of the audio system...

But after all that I am way more impermeable to marketing influence ,hype, new product, because my audio system gives me real music now not a frustrating interesting noise that I would upgrade by unsatisfaction each weeks God gives to us...
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,511 posts
 
I’m all for inexpensive or just plain practical  home grown tweaks that work. Smart audiophiles do it all the time. Rugs, fuses, furniture, plants.....you name it.
More to discover