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
I spent about $800-850 to procure the above.
It is cumulative in that, yes, more than one adds more realism to the sound. You can hear such detail and even ambiance in the room where the recording was made becomes very apparent.
The recordings sound believable, very authentic, because now the harmonic details have emerged which were always there but were not readily perceivable. I attribute this because of resonance applied by way of low frequency field "tuning", if you will, the audio signal in the system.

Some examples of my experiments:

Tourmaline will clarify the frequencies (i work mainly with the black varieties because of lowest price)...

Chrysocolla will open the imaging....Kambaba jasper also but in a more subtle manner...

Shungite will gives body to the sound but too much can be detrimental and generally shungite works best near power source, power cord, cables … Do not put shungite on top of the gear..

Nephrite add a gentle velvet texture to the sound...It is difficult sometimes to describe with words these effect of stones.

Herkimer diamond work in enhancing the effect of  any stones or crystals and clarify also the frequencies but work really best coupled to another stones...

Agate and amethyst are also good but less powerful in the working than most of the stones i already mentioned...
Banded Agate and Madagascar agate touch the body of the sound, amethyst work more his hues colored timbre...


Varieties of quartz works powerfully but better coupled with other stones...They work from the high frequencies toward lows...(agate works more from lows to mids on the coloration timbre)

Lava beads are very powerful and works always  with the main power source if this source is very noisy ( lava are not so good on the gear)...But lava works better coupled with another stones to mitigate his powerful bleaching effect, for example with shungite or with agate...
bemused you said:
«I attribute this because of resonance applied by way of low frequency field "tuning", if you will, the audio signal in the system.»

It is very interesting to me because connected to my grid of cabled stones and crystals, I had already connected 5 Shumann Generator, that I located at varied spots and height with stones on them and also linked together, even with some small vertical antennas... The effect were an enhancement of the imaging and timbre of instrument... The S.G. produce a low frequency which is the very resonance frequencies of the atmosphere of the earth, and it seems that this broadcasting frequency tuned the electro-magnetic field of the room,and also broadcast the filtering particular effect of each stones coupled with the S.G.
I am very interested by electraclear model that is low cost... I cannot afford this same amount of money (800) for now to my audio system... But I am not frustrated at all because I think I realized something similar, homemade, if I read the description of the effects, with my modified S.G., which are embedded in a connected batteries powered grid of stones... Each stones is part of a filtering equation with the others, they are all linked and act like a complex passive filter...Coherence systems use an algorithm that program an active filtering of the noise level...

One day I must re-installed all my grid, because I discover better product to glued the stones and cable (magic nano tape) and I discover that the best cable for the stones are not the regular one even thin, but the telephone cable, which is hairlike thin...Probably my grid would be more powerful if I recreate it with all that I know now... But I discover all that, one stone at a time, small idea after another, than mostly improvising all that with the judgement of my 2 ears...
I ask to myself now this question, how the modulated algorythm that is used by Coherence Systems symphony to tuned the audio system act with the S.G. in the equation...

Perhaps Bemused you will buy a chineese cheap usb version for 10 bucks of the S. G. and try that ?

It will be an interesting experiment no?
I just glued with 2 side adhesive nano tape 2 layers of Chrysocolla on each side of the tape and the 2 free ends glued crossing trough one of the 2 events on each cup of the Fostex T10...Guess what? Like I think, because the effect of Chrysocolla are now known by my other experiments (Thanks to WHOSTOLETHEBATMOBILE) the sound is more open,more clarity, more coherent imaging, and the almost total closure on one of the 2 events on each cup is not detrimental to the sound...

The Fostex T10 ,the first portable headphone,1977, is now my most loved headphone officially with all the modifications I had implemented, they are impossible to beat under 1000 bucks, or if so, I want to know by which headphone to buy it...They are natural sounding for the timbre, with an imaging holographic …They crush even my Fostex TH7 modified, which crush my other headphones ...

Another lived proof for me of the power of crystals...
The powerful magnet of the orthodynamic headphone intercepting the filtering pattern of the Chrysocolla imposed on it by resonance change and improve on the original imprint structure of the electro magnetic field of the headphone...This is my way to explain it for myself, and absolutely not science...But it works fine for a ridiculous cost...
It seems that the too darker tone of my T10 was caused mainly by the original old very microphonic cable of the headphone... I had treated the jack already with 5 different crystals and stones with success... But this noisy cable was cleaned by adding 6 inches of Chrysocolla beads(4mm),one beads after one glued by magic nano tape, all along the first 6 inches beginning with the jack end of the cable... Results: a bigger soundstage and a less noisy cable with a greater clarity... Incredible power of the Chrysocolla...My love story goes on...
Quick interrupt! Some tips on crystals. Crystals have a memory. They work better when their memory is cleared. So, always wash your crystals in running tap water. You can also demagnetize them with a demagnetizer. Finally, lie crystals out in the sun for 4 hours. Now you’re ready to rock and roll. 
Thanks Geoff, I think I was a bit negligent about that....It is an important fact for us of all to remember before introducing a new crystals in the system...
I dont know for the others, but I am in no need to go to auditorium, or theater, or symphony hall to listen to a real orchestra to compare it to my stereo system...I dont say that this is not a unique experience, it is, each times I go to one...But for an audiophile, when he listen to his audio system and hear a beautiful 3-d presence of each instrument with his natural timbre in his own space, that is an unmistakable experience...There is indeed "after"and "before"... There is always place for improvement, but "after" we gained this level of accuracy this is only minors improvements...And the feeling of this experience does not need any warrenty, or proof hearing with the real thing: a real concert to compared to...The 2 experience are totally different, but each one convey his "own reality" … No need to compare...


I live trough this moment of truth with my new headphones, that takes many, many modifications and tweaks, but for the first time (after nine headphones that I never loved) I live this truly enlightened hearing experience, when you realized all you had missed " before"...And in this moment only exist music, no more the sound frequencies in itself or for itself, only music, « the real presence of the lived atmosphere of the room» where the musician were playing and the musician themselves there only for you...


The good news is that it takes not so much money to live it, only precautions about vibrations, and treatment for the noise level of the gear, of the room, and of the house...For sure the luck to buy TOTL headphone or speakers for peanuts, and the patience to modify them toward their true potential, correcting defects, for example in the case of my orthodynamic headphone Fostex T10: the horrible microphonic cable that unbeknownst to me was elevating the noise level very high...But after that mods, this is for the first time heaven, only music that i cannot stop to listen to and that I NEVER listen to EVER, even if I own the cd for decades in the past....It takes me 7 years to attain this goal...The Fostex T10 is a TOTL headphone, unknown to most, rare for sure, but priced peanuts if you know his true potential and modify it a little bit...This headphone sound now in league with the priciest headphone in the market or just under, in term of quality level...I am very lucky.... I wishes some luck to you all... We all deserve that...
Tonight I did some more experimenting with shungite. I listening to a track without the shungite and became familiar with it and had it fresh in my mind. I then placed a shungite pyramid on the outside of the breaker box, with the point facing away and the base facing towards where the two hot mains enter the panel. The base of the pyramid is about 3” square and roughly 3” tall. I’m not sure if the shape matters but I included the description here for completeness. I went back to the listening room and listened to the same song. A change in the music was readily apparent. What I noticed most was a change in the midrange frequencies, like they were a bit louder or brought more forward in the soundstage. I went and removed the shungite and listened to the same track again and the sound changed to like before the experiment began. Interesting. In this experiment, I slightly preferred the setup with no shungite. This doesn’t surprise me since I have no clue what I’m doing as far as the following factors are concerned: placement in system, mass of crystal, distance from the cables, number of crystals, etc. At this point I’m not exactly trying to fix or improve something specific in my system; I’m just tinkering. The fact that I could use shungite to seemingly alter the midrange frequencies and/or affect the “forward-ness” of the presentation makes me believe that if one knew what they were doing they could use crystals to tweak their system to achieve a certain sound. Mahgister seems to have done a lot of research here and a few others but overall, crystal applications in audio systems like what’s been discussed in this thread seems like a frontier that needs a lot more research and experimentation.
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
MKGUS
Thanks for your report...You must experiment with some other stones for example pink quartz with shungite or tourmaline will have a more positive effect probably...Try that...


Shungite is one of the most difficult stone to use in an audio grid... Try to place on top of your router (computer)  ... 
Another little miracle for me, I just bought to try it on a uncontrollable relapse in audiophile disease an Alan Maher  magnetic waveguide (150 bucks) I plug it without break-in in uphill from the power supply of my dac... I added some Tourmaline on top of it +a thin plate of shungite….

Immediately lowering the  noise floor in my speakers, extending the soundstage, refining the imaging also, but more than that in my beloved orthodynamic  Fostex T10 the effect was astoundingly clear...In my heavily tweaked stones grid there is place for new methods for the controls of the house noise floor...I enjoy more of my T10 now, the best headphone I ever own...Better even than my Mission Cyrus speakers for musicality and naturalness...
An interesting experiment:

I now had 6 Schuman Generator (2 power supply+4usb one) in my room… At each times there is an incremental improvement in the soundstage and imaging of the speakers and the headphone alike...If I switch them all off, there is a collapse of the soundstage and imaging, not only in the speakers but more surprisingly in the headphone too...



“...not only in the speakers but more surprisingly in the headphone too...”

>>>>What do you think that means?
The S.G. in my system are connected to my stones grid and if I disconnected all that the soundstage collapse, the imaging is less precise, the bubble in which each instrument lives is no more organically connected to the totality...

I think that it is an interaction between the E.M. field of the S.G. and my gear...The stones act also like some kind of filter ,if I change the stones I change the sound for better or worse...But you are the scientist I will wait for your explanation... My best to you Geoff...
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 🤡
Thanks Geoff for your insightful remarks...

A complete mystery if you said so, it is... But Perhaps the frequency pulsed by the S.G. act like a kind of transporting wave for some resonant frequencies of my stones affecting the electro-magnetics field intersecting in my room... Dont kill my speculative ignorance with too much sarcasms please... :)


One thing is for sure, like Helmholtz resonators, vibrations controls methods, acoustic room treatment, the S.G.  are an indispensable audio tools for me coupled to my stones grid...In a few years in a new room I will begin anew with better knowledge now and improved connections in my new grid...
Dr. Elizabeth responds to a question regarding her faith in Prometheus, “because I choose to believe it.” 🤡
Thanks Geoff I appreciate your spirit...And sarcasm when delicately choosen… :)
If you bought a new "miraculous product" that will be good,but not "miraculous", like I bought, : the wave magnetic guide of Alan Maher, remember this : Any "so called miraculous product" in your mind or in the mind of the marketing brain will introduce noise of his own, by virtue of his own electronics or even by simply mechanical vibrations of his solid casing and parts and the produced unwanted resonances...

After plugging this good product indeed , I was not entirely satisfy... I decide to treat the exterior casing of the magnetic A.M. waveguide with Fo.Q tuning tape but also Sorbothane duro 70 1/4 inches thick(very good for audio)…(for sure I added some tourmaline stones also) The 2 tapes cleans so much noise that my new Fostex T10 gained much in rendering less recessed higher frequencies (their only defect for me)...

Morality: If some company claims something about " one miraculous product" that cures all, it is not true, the truth is always in audio, many cleaning methods works together with all new product including miraculous one... There is always the necessity, nevermind what you will buy, to tweaks the acoustic atmosphere of the room, the mechanical vibrations, and the high level noise (E.M. or mechanical) introduced by any new link, even "the so-called miraculous one"... By the way I like the Alan Maher wave guide, that is way more effective now, I only say that all new link must be treated also, in this case for mechanical vibrations...

I bought this product to further enhance mostly the Fostex T10 my only headphone of choice now and the goal is achieved...The Fostex T10 an old orthodynamic ( paid 80 bucks) is really better now that all my past headphones, including a paid 300 bucks chineese modern orthos that I never really loved ...But without many tweaks improving the electrical embeddings of the audio grid in the house, in the room, or on each link by itself, nothing will satisfy me now...Nothing...However i am satisfy now and really listen music to my likings from my headphone for the first time after 8 headphones in 7 years...A potential good headphone like the Fostex T10 is not enough by itself, even with a good amp, and a good dac, it takes methods to clean the noise floor of the gear, the room and the house...
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! 🤯
Yes Geoff I use Lemurian Quartz to great avails... It is better in general to use Herkimer, pink quartz also, lemurian etc They are better in audio than only standard regular quartz...

I have " mathematical faith" in a universal grid memory information processing field, it is not science, it is faith nourished by contemplation of the numbers plane and vectors reality...Except for that I dont know how to answers your interesting question like usual...My best to you from the past to the future...(I am from the past) :)


P.S. I think that your metaphor with acupuncture is very spot on....
An example of my use of quartz is about a thin stick of lemurian quartz, but of the "smoked" variety, that i have placed on the cables knot of my headphone... I have taped chrysocolla beads with one stick of Lemurian "smoked" quartz in between and the result are audible for the rendering of timbre; the chrysocolla act for me more about the imaging first, the lemurian of the "smoked" variety add "body" to that and more than that enhancing the imaging effect of the chrysocolla.......
I use one under my pillow. Pink or clear only.  I’ll come back in time and check from time to time. 🤡
Today i meet a friend and takes some stones with me trying to improve his audio system...It was a revelation but way more for me than for him... After placing some stones on top of his power strip, i hears some minor improvement, but not what i anticipate at all... Only some clear audible improvement to my ears, to him also, but not much the change i promise to deliver...(It was the same friend who liked a lot my audio system some weeks ago).

In my own system it takes me 1 year at least, placing one stone at a times, and experimenting with the best other stones to pair with it, after months introducing cables between them, and batteries, and finally Schuman Generator with stones cabled to this stones grid...Then hoping and promising for an astounding change just by throwing few stones on a big Monster power strip was perhaps naive of my part ... However in my audio system this stones grid is astoundingly audible and I know perfectly well the difference between introducing it or not, between before and after...

Morality: dont hope astounding improvement by just throwing a few stones for example on a power strip, or near some gear, like sometimes my discourse seems to suggest in this thread.... It takes minor change adding to many others minor change cumulating themselves after many months of experimenting in an astounding change...It takes times, experiments, and linking all the stones, this is not possible to makes that happens in a few hours... I think that i underestimated all the experimenting works that adding the stones implicate for a final astounding result...

Then all of you reading my assertive enthusiasm if you conclude that just adding some stones will be a great improvement, i must say to you it takes many, many experiments and minor changes, they are all cumulative, at the end...Hope for the best only if you play and experiment for more than one evening.... If you dont want bothering yourself with fun experiments on many months like myself, buy 5 ooo thousand bucks ready-made tweaks, they probably are on par with my tweaks and who knowns! perhaps better, and more easy to install.... Perhaps i was too enthusiast suggesting a miracle to happen in the first experiment...I forget all my long journey of minor changes till the end and speak only  about my end result without realizing all the trials and errors along the way that were necessary to obtain all that...

I apologize to my reader for that...
I dont know if I have dreamed that but few minutes ago I taped some thin vertically band of adhesive copper tape on the wall sockets of my audio room and the sound seems more natural and more velvety and less grainy ?

Is it another miracles in audio or an hallucination?

Where is Geoffkait when we need him? In the future for sure...
Is it not your own suggestion to put that there?

It is definitely less grainy sound...It is very evident with Haydn string quartet (Auryn quartet)...And also in the velvety sound of Chet Baker Tokyo concert...

I definitely does not hallucinate.... I enjoy more my music and I call that a little miracle for the cost of 2 peanuts...Subtle but there and sublime softness of string or brass sound...Thanks Geoff...


It’s not my suggestion, it’s my product. Hel-loo! Bad, mahgister, bad!
Put some copper adhesive tape around the router of the house`s computer and it is an improvement also....It seems to improve the sound also around any electrical connecting device, headphone plug or power strip, not only wall sockets...Added more transparency to the sound mainly....
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.
Thank you for apologizing my stupidity Geoff but I will pass for this one....And will not speak about it to anyone.... :)


 P.S. My gutters are already very much tied ….
But I truly apologize for my tactlessness against you.... I am not kidding here.... But my gutters are not already attached, I was only kidding...

And by the way I read a post on audiogon about this tweak and copper tape written by you to all to read... Then I try it, after the success I encounter with your "saucers" in my window, without thinking any bad,  it was perhaps tactless of my part...But I speak here about any tweaks I tried, then....
But you’re passing on the BLACK cable tie for drain pipe tweak? Now I’m not sure you’re mahgister. Are you his replacement?
the black color is essential?

I am his brother but more intelligent than him , my system is pricey and without all these stupid tweaks....
Would I kid you? 🤡

I’m in the future, as you know, where I work as a clown in a circus since they don’t have audio forums in the future. 
(My brother speak too much good about you....I dont trust clown from the future that haunted contemporary forum... Goodbye, my brother will retake his stupid thread...)


Hello Geofff, I apologize for my retarded brother...I will try your tweak...My best...
"my retarded brother"

Umm...mentally challenged or cognitive disability seems more appropriate.
Is somebody looking in the mirror?

My mother always tells me to smile and put on a happy face. 🤡
I will adopt the more respectful " mentally challenged" for my brother thanks... :)
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 am a bit awkwarded and confused right now... I have attached 2 black tie-wrap around the bottom of my 2 roof gutters...thanks for this "placebo tweak" the sound is, it seems, better.... You can now mock me to your soul content evil guy!


This is the proof of my complete insanity....


But wait a minute, the placebo effect is a real ,non cumulative, one time new biased perception, it is real, but NON cumulative in a repeated cumulative acts of tweaking, one after the other, toward a complete transformation of my audio system after many months or years.... Then I am a bit fool to wrap that at the end of my gutters, but the pacebo effect  is a real subtle change, tough non cumulative, it seems that the illusion is not a growing without mom ending improvement...At the end I am not completely nutty with all my tweaks it seems...I am nutty only with these tie-wrap placebo improvement.... :)
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.
it seems we are brother from the same unknown father,because like you I think about anything to change for the better even placebo tweaks...