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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
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mahgister OP
13,094 posts
 
UpDATE Herkimer diamonds...

Never put a golden plate near an amplifier...Some stones worlk miraculously good upstream an audio system, not so much  on an amplifier ou near it.... Try on the cables not on the amplifier.... The sound will be too compressed...

But many other stones has good effects on the noise....Tourmaline, Kambba jasper, agate... But Herkimer diamonds are very powerful to clean the sound...

I now has added 5 little bags in all, 2 new today.... The effect is there increasing the clarity and imaging...


Viva Herkimer dimamond....
mahgister's avatar
mahgister OP
13,094 posts
 
i just post this short explanation on an other thread about audiophiles...I guess i am one..... :)

« I always liked to play the same files i like the most....But i also use some files to rightfully assess the state of my audio system....My controls embeddings methods are complex and with my listening i can detect if there is some defects, or something amiss among all the hundreds of modifications implemented .... It is impossible to verify all of them one by one each day..... :)»

I just realized where i was on the scale of madmess....But trust me with these hundred of modifications my audio system is good and best than most think.... :)

Viva madness!
mahgister's avatar
mahgister OP
13,094 posts
 
UPDATE Herkimer diamonds.

I now added 300 hundred micro or small H.D. in 6 little bags on top of my Sansui transformer amplifier with some other stones that were already there for 2 years : Black Tourmaline, Jasper of kambaba, Madagascar banded agate....

The results are very good with an expanded imaging and clarity...The total cost of all H.D. are around 50 dollars...

People paying one thousand dollars for a cable that gives that will be pleased, imagine how i feel ?

:)
mahgister's avatar
mahgister OP
13,094 posts
 
A remark for the not so awaken ears and mind:

Some will be tempted to attribute all my post to delusion and placebo effects...

Just a word to say that no PLACEBOS can accumulate positive effects on a 2 years period, incrementally, each times...

I am not deluded, if i am wrong like some think, i am totally hallucinating.... :)

My grid of stones for example, is only small positive rendering of the frequencies, one connection and one stone at each time.... The addition is at the end a great change....

But i introduce many new concepts after this grid of stones.... And i think myself at some time that some are more powerful, but when a connection has failed to work by relaxing itself from the stones, i hears the differencewhen i reinstated the connector cable to the stone the small increase is evident.... Trust me all increase in S.Q. are important even the small one...

No advice, nor upgrade, can replace our listening experiments.... Nothing can....because the listening experiments are the roots of creation in this audio hobby...


mahgister's avatar
mahgister OP
13,094 posts
 
My new Homemade creation:

The "TWIN FANS COMBING SOUND" Room enhancer...

Imagine the sound in your room is like a pony tail of all hair behind the head...

Imagine you detach the pony tail, and that you comb the hairs...

I put 2 fans (the plastic one that you can play with, adjusting the height in summer with 3 or 4 blades) i put these 2 fans in front of the speakers at the same height than my tweeter.... I put (very important) a 3/4 inches Herkimer Diamond in the center of each cage enclosure....

Results: soundstage more open but especially better high frequencies and better imaging, better perception of all harmonics....

Incredible reverse engineering at virtually peanuts costs... (2 unused fans of 20 bucks each).

The audible effect is there ar regular distance 7 feet or in near listening 3 1/2 feet....

Enhance the room and the higher frequencies perception very much....

What can i say?

I got my idea reading about a wodden thing that cost 1,500 dollars....

Reverse engineering it with metal fan enclosure with an H. D. in the center to erase some resonance.....

Marvellous...

Basic Hi-Fi cost peanuts..... Use your ears more and less your eyes.....And the brain between the two....

Dont listen the so called self appointed scientist, and do not listen marketers, try yourself.... Experimenting is fun and rewarding....

:)
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