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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
12,987 posts
 
The secret that was revealed to me by my experiments is this one, then be careful beginners:

Buy used very good amplifier, and speakers or new if you cannot makes otherwise, for sure my dac was bought new for example...And if you are not a beginner, probably each of your audio links are already very good, but you had never listen to them with their true potential revealed ….

Then if you had already good link in your audio chain, clean and controls the vibration levels and the negative resonance, with methods that will suit you ( I use sandwiches plates of my own design)...

Next clean the electrical grid of the house,after that of the room, and finally of the audio grid (dont forget the computer and routers etc)... by the methods that will suit you the best...( I use stones and crystals for that)

Last but not least treat your room with a good balance and equilibrium between reflecting surface and materials and absorbing one... I used also Schumann generators(cheap one) and homemade Helmholtz resonators...

And if you listen with speakers in near listening field or at regular distance, try my cheap "singing resonators" , easy to make and the imaging of your speakers will expand and you will be able to controls and directing it...The cost is ridiculous, the effect is like the advertisement about very costly products...I cannot promise you it is the same upgrading, I cannot compare, but it would be enough to say that it is night and day effects... They look so cheap that many will smile and back-off...But poor beginners will go on and will smile and thanks me.... My best to all...


That it is not necessary to have money to afford HI-FI was my astounding personal discovery...
mahgister's avatar
mahgister OP
12,987 posts
 
Using the "singing resonators" will ask for experiments in your room, to devise an optimal singing resonators grid ( I had 10 sets of 5 or 6 buckets of varied width and depth) by trying different height levels,and orientation in relation to your speakers and ears, and inclination angles between the roof and the ceiling...This is fun and very gratifying...My best to all...


Important note: there is no degradation of the tonal quality of voices or instruments by using these resonators, if your room is already treated minimally or optimally for a natural timbre results, before introducing the singing resonators...The resonators will gives you a way to controls the imaging without degrading the timbre...


At the question, why this is so ?, with cheap metal buckets, I have no answer, being like most of you incredulous, when something almost free of cost to make is giving great results, especially when the results relatively compare probably to highly costly products...My ears listen without any understanding and my brain is the brain of a normal guy without background in any acoustical engineering whatsoever...
mahgister's avatar
mahgister OP
12,987 posts
 
The greatest error we beginners commit is that we think that buying a more costly cables, or amplifier, or speakers or dac, will give us a truly better or TOTL HI-FI audio system... This is not always the case , especially when most of the times your stereo system is already good...


Think about that:
Your speakers and the room where they are posited are ONE system, And you will never listen music from speakers whithout room nor from a room without speakers, and your ears are immersed in the acoustic synergetic field constituted by this polarity speakers-room, and with this duality your ears form a resonating UNITY...

Then treating the room is the ONLY absolute factor to elevate your gear and hearing capacity to his optimal potential...Nothing else will give you that, being a cable, or any new other electronic component...
thecarpathian
4,334 posts
 
Yes, you must think of the room as a system component....
mahgister's avatar
mahgister OP
12,987 posts
 
Absolutely, and think that your ears and the room with speakers are one unity....My best to you my friend...
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