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
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 ?

:)
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...


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....

:)
I forgot to mention a better perception of the timbre and more natural one with an increased imaging really.......

This " Twin fan combing sound" is on par with my "golden plate" creation....

Viva Herkimer diamond !

What a day!
UPDATE:

"TWIN FANS combing sound room enhancer"

My last idea was to add a third fan near my right speakers, the enclosure at the level of the tweeter and bass driver... ( with an herkimer diamond stick in the center of the enclosure)

Wow a better mid bass and bass this times....But the improvement is at all frequencies like with the 2 first fans with more in the highs for the 2 first one and in the bass with the third one.... No degradation on all counts with the H.D. in the center of the enclosures... 

These 3 fans are my best ideas with the "golden plates" and with many others , each controls tweaks add something, but some are near miraculous...

These fans are astounding controls means for no cost or almost...


My inspiration comes from the Shakti hallograph, a kind of wooden 3 wood rays trident that we must put behind the speakers...My fans work in front of the speakers against the opposite wall, metal enclosure at the height of the drivers.... :)

I dont have the 1000 US dollars for that Shakti thing.... But i have 3 unused fans with metal circled enclosure that surely will finely ethereally COMB also the sound of the speakers like a comb will comb the ethereal hair of a beautiful woman....


Conclusion: i even doubt that the Hallograph will do best than my fans.... So good they are.....

:)

« Madness is the problem yes, but madness is the cure» -Groucho Marx