Well, you’re confident, I’ll give you that. If only you could hear what I’ve heard with my ears. If I had a dime for every person who’s sworn up and down he had found audio Nirvana or TOTL I’d be a wealthy 💰 💰 man. You guys must think I do this stuff for my health. I first got involved with crystal structures 52 years ago when I designed a rocket engine for interplanetary travel 🚀 that employed high-energy Xenon ions to bombard a highly magnetized metal crystal bar, thus producing thrust by sputtering off atoms from the crystal surface.
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...
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...
Showing 50 responses by geoffkait
I had a very similar experience using my vintage SONY MDR-V700 headphones after my very non-exhilarating experience with HIFIMAN 600 earbuds, which after 250 hours of burn in still sounded like @%&#*%. The SONY are transparent, full range and dynamic by contrast. I have a confession to make. I pulled the trigger on some fo.Q thin damping tape, 2 sheets, and a set of those cute CD stabilizers they also sell. Direct from Japan. By no small coincidence I also placed an order with a seller in Japan for a Zed Zeppelin III SHM CD. |
I got the thin fo.Q tape mostly for CDs but also for power cord plugs, wall outlet covers, Schumann Freak USB devices, back of TV panel, Walkman CD Player case, TV connectors, headphone a frame. I suggest removing the Sorbothane. And burning it. 🔥 You’ll thanks me later. 🤗 the reason you thought the tape was subtle because Sorbothane is over-kill in the sense it over does it. It’s what the Japanese company Acoustic Revive calls over-dumping. |
As everybody and his brother knows I am using lithium battery powered SONY Walkman 🚶🏻♂️CD player with SONY MDR-v700 headphones as my primary system. In case I haven’t mentioned it more than 20 times already, allow your friend and humble scribe to fill you in on all the gory details why lithium battery powered portable CD player + headphones is the only way to fly. Aside from the obvious advantage of completely eliminating issues with house AC power, my system also eliminates issues with AC GROUND, power cords, interconnects, digital cables, big transformers, fuses, big capacitors, big long speaker cables - and the oft astronomical costs of them. Plus, it’s easier to isolate the lightweight player. And you have enough money now to go hog wild on tweaks. If dynamics, low noise and distortion, tonality, realism and air are you’re bag, this system has it all. |
That may very well be true, but shungite is not (rpt not) a crystal. And the chances are good it’s controlling vibration not absorbing or shielding RF. My Tru Tone Wall Duplex Covers that I’ve sold for many years can be placed on unused outlets with good results. That’s because they address vibration, not RF. Flying Saucers for outlets prevent RF in the room from entering the unused female outlets and infecting the system wiring. Flying Saucers for Windows reduces RF entering the room. Problem solved! 🤗 |
As I’ve oft counseled crystals for the most part don’t affect RF. They affect vibration. even when you swear up and down it must be RF it’s not. Crystals do not attract RF, they aren’t RF magnets. They don’t block RF. RF is everywhere in the room simultaneously, traveling as it does at the velocity of light. The entire room is filled with RF. But crystals are excellent at absorbing vibration - e.g., vibration at the wall outlet, vibration at the circuit breaker box, vibration on glass windows. Crystals on cables or cable connectors. Crystals have vibration numbers, remember? They don’t have RF numbers. Electrifying crystals makes them vibrate/resonate. You will go much further in your experiments if you address vibration rather than RF. But I’m not saying RF isn’t a problem. For RF I have one word - Flying Saucers. 🛸 🛸 🛸 Flying Saucers for Windows. Flying Saucers for Unused Wall Outlets. That’s how you get rid of RF, not crystals. PS - I just got my packages of fo.Q CD stabilizer rings and thin damping tape yesterday. So guess what I will be doing today. |
Let’s summarize quickly. Nothing you have done can be shown to affect the AC grid but you’ve made great strides reducing vibration in your system and for that you are to be congratulated. 🤗 Just because something works doesn’t necessarily mean your theory of operation is correct. I’ve never implied your tweaks don’t work. Do you think this is the first time someone has had the theory that crystals absorb, shield or dissipate RF? Find me just one article in a scientific journal that describes crystals used to treat RF for any application, audio or otherwise. By the way, you can electrify acupuncture needles, too, I’ve had it done to me, but it doesn’t mean the needles are affecting the “electrical grid” in the human body. Or does it? Hmmmmmm 😳 |
Just two points. One, shungite is not a crystal. Two, the complete description of the operational characteristics of crystals in audio applications was written by your friend and humble scribe almost twenty years ago in Power to the Pebble. My, how time flies. http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina17.htm |
The reason I asked the question was you intimated it was more mysterious or surprising that the effect was observed through headphones than through speakers. Be that as it may, I do not think that extremely low frequency 7.83 Hz waves are capable of interfering with RF with frequencies in high Megahertz and low Gigahertz. In fact, I am very unyielding on that point. For example, in satellite communications the uplink is 100% protected from interference by the downlink by simply offsetting the two frequencies by a few Gigahertz, 12GHz up, 10 GHz down. Thus, in my humble (?) opinion the SG mode of operational remains a complete mystery. Cheers, Geoff 🤡 |
Maybe it’s like acupuncture. The standard procedure is poking a needle into the skin at strategic locations on the body. But electrifying the needles is the next step up. I’ve had both prod endures done, by the way. But the question is (at least for the acupuncture needles) is the method of operation physical/mechanical or is it electrical? Along the same lines, why are crystals effective as massage props and for meditation? Have you ever experimented with Lemurian Quartz Crystals from Brazil? Blow your mind! 🤯 |
Good for you, mahgister!! Only because you are very experi-mental I will gift you this tweak. But don’t tell anybody. Buy a pack of 14” long black cable ties at Home Depot or wherever and wrap one cable tie around the bottom of each vertical drain pipe on your building, the ones that go from the rain gutter on the roof to the ground. If the drain pipes are extra wide use two cable ties that are connected. |
You’re close. Very close. It’s the information field created by the drain pipes. The more of a thing the greater the information field. The black cable tie breaks the field. The drain pipes on your house not like all the others in the world. Unlike electric or magnetic fields, information fields do not attenuate over distance. |
I’m not the kind of person who mocks a placebo effect. I will try anything as long as it improves the sound. I would even get expectation bias a try if it helped the sound. By the way, if you live in an apartment building with many drain spouts falling down I strongly suggest you put the cables ties on at night with no full moon. |
I’m quite used to dealing with mentally challenged people every day. Maybe it’s my calling. Your brother is always welcome here. First drink’s on the house. As a kid, my mother would say, “school, you should enjoy it. One day you’ll have to work for a living.” No, I won’t, ma. I’m going to me a comedian. 🤡 |
I don’t think it will work because it is phone. You can’t fool Mother Nature. Write using a permanent RED pen, all capitals THIS PHONE ALLOWS GOOD SOUND AND > O.K. IMPORTANT - cover the brand name of the phone when writing the message, if possible. You can cover the writing with clear tape to preserve it. |
Tip - you can make labels using the red pen, THESE FOSTEX SPEAKERS ARE GREAT AND > O.K. and attach one label to each speaker cabinet. That way you can remove the labels to AB the effects. You can also put a label YOUR NAME > O.K. on each speaker. Especially good to cover the brand name of the speaker with a label. |
Agree. It’s called mass hypnosis. 😳 😳 😳 😳 Just check out any thread currently running on interconnects, fuses, directionality, isolation - anything that is more than one Sigma away from the what the average dude accepts as his belief system. Please, no agree emails, I’m not talking about religion. Deprogrammers are standing by. |
Generally useful geoffkait send Greetings🖖 from future. Maybe not your future, but future, nevertheless. Future have no audio forum so I come back here, mostly for jokes. It’s funny. When I was little boy and told people I was gonna be a comedian, everyone laughed at me. Well, no one’s laughing now! Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask, how’s your experiments with mind-matter interaction coming along? You know, the .... message labels. Your friend and narrator, Placebo Domingo |
Oregonpapa, actually it’s not just copper tape. Are you pretending to be dense? It’s a whole concept, an IDEA. MY IDEA. But I’m not going to explain it to you or argue with you. Because you wouldn’t understand anyway. Too many Dean Martin records or whatever. You’re on notice, though. All of you knuckleheads are. |
I’m always encouraged when folks copy my ideas like using copper tape around the room. Machina Dynamica’s Flying Saucers for Windows and Flying Saucers for Unused Wall Outlets have been around for quite some time, since 2013. But a word of caution. They are not what they seem. I hold the secrets, I’m afraid. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. 🤡 |
Having the advantage of coming from the future I think I can say without fear of contradiction that the statements such as the room is a component or the room is part of the system don’t go nearly far enough. They are truisms, I don’t think you’re going to get too much argument about those statements. But, hang on to your hats 🧢 - in reality the 🔜 entire world 🔙 is part of the system. The sound of a system is influenced by obvious external factors like time of day, day of week, weather, traffic, radio and tv and cell phone signals AND by 🔜 information fields 🔙 that - unlike radio signals - do not (rpt not) attenuate over distance. Thus, some classes objects around the world affect the sound of YOUR system. And connections to external sources of communications themselves are BAD for the sound as well as books, magazines, your CDs and LPs themselves are BAD for the sound. Ironic, no? Yes, I realize these ideas are new and maybe weird but remember, I’m from the future. |
The trouble with resonators like crystals and tiny little bowls is that you can get lulled into a sense of security. In fact, it’s very easy to damage the sound with incorrect placement of a single resonator, much less a boatload of resonators. That’s why I oft say beer bottles and wine bottles lying around in a room at CES hurt the sound, because they’re not in the right locations. We oft times buy into a concept a little too much before it’s too late. There is probably a psychological term for that but it escapes me right now. Some kind of prophecy. Perhaps expectation bias. The only real way to find correct locations for resonators is using a test tone and sound pressure meter to determine where the offending pressure peaks in a given room are. This SPL method is accompanied by listening tests as you proceed. Any other method will not produce maximum results because it’s like trying to solve x simultaneous equations in x + n unknowns. Do the math! Another tip. Don’t bring all the resonators into the room at the same time, even if they’re just sitting on the table. Bring them in one at a time. |