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...
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...
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...
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.
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...
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...
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 ?
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...
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.
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...
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.
I own a couple Symphony Pros and several ElectraClears. The change is such that the openness in the sound stage is remarkable. The sound is fuller more rounded. When removed the sound simply collapses as if the air went out of the balloon. The ElectraClears really clarify the lows to mids and some, whereas the Symphony units open up the mids to the highs. They are modest in manufacture perhaps, but still are attractive enough and worthy of sharing a space in a rack or on a nearby shelf. I've placed some tourmaline and shungite in a baggies near the power cord or on the ElectraClears. A little goes a long way, as too much might lower noise but kind of emphasize the bass frequencies.
bemused thanks my friend for your interesting remarks.... Can you gives us more details about your experience and these products? For example the models you owns, the change they provide, the improvement in some counts? The price/ ratio quality for you? How do you tweaked them? Thanks for your time and participation... My best to you...
I am really interested by the electraclear because of the low price (75 dollars) and their idea if I understand is original and ring a bell in my head it seems so....
The description of how his product works ring a bell in my head, because perhaps the crystals and stones coupled to a Schumann Generator that is linked to my stones grid work like that it seems: inducing a resonance that affect the different coupled electro-magnetic fields of the room which enhanced by the crystals and stones improves the imaging ,timbre, etc.. Like I already said I am not a scientist at all, my intuitive stance is only a way to convey a possibility of an explanation, not an actual explanation...
Very interesting discussion here. May I just throw in the idea of resonance. Resonating signals is an interesting phenomenon, audio signals included whether acoustic or electronic. Imo a great tweak, and a fair value for the price are the early QRT Quantum products as well as the current ADD-Powr ElectraClear and Symphony field generators made by Coherence Systems. Talk about resonance these gizmos really do a sweet number to my system! Even they can be tweaked by the crystals, ferrite materials, etc.
Do you have a conditioner MKGUS? Do you listen trough your computer? if so you have a router...
Place a shungite plate behind or in front of this router and listen to your music...You will know first hand how interference are anywhere...If you had a conditioner or a power strip, place on top of them shungite+tourmaline or beads of chrysocolla ...All other stones are possible, not one is filtering the noise the same manner, all stones act complementarily, particularly efficiently if cabled connected together...Each stones has his own effect on the sound very audible and different than the others...I learned how to use them with experiments...
These experiments are the beginning of a process where with each stones near your gear or on top, and on the interconnect cable or many cables, you gained incrementally, small addition with a next one, some great improvement... After that I cabled all my stones... I know, this seems silly :) but that works...
After that I use 6 cheap usb chineese Shumann Generator cabled with stones on them connected to this grid...
Remember that room treatment is imperative and various materials and means to couple-decouple mechanically all your gear from vibrations-resonance... ( i use 20 Helmholtz homemade bottles also +my room home made treatment)
All electro-magnetic field of not only your house but near your house, all RFI interact against your audio system elevating the noise level... Even if your amplifier cost thousand of dollars it is affected by that and most people dont listen to the true potential of their gear... There is people who know that, and the others that underestimated that completely... It is the samething with vibrations-resonance...But I am no electrician and dont know all about power line...My only one means for the last year was to put on the principal electrical line of my house some 45 bags of aquarium peebles(cheap) with results very audible...On the principal electrical panel I put shungite, tourmaline, chrysocolla, lava beads etc with great results... The best would be to buy a PS conditioner regenerator, but the price exceed my purse... The other solution would be to buy a lithium battery generator but that will cost minimally 1000 bucks...For sure even if I bought all that I will use the magic of stones and crystals on them...But cut-off fron the house electrical line would be best solutions... For the meantime the 45 bags of peebles gives improvement and lower the noise level at the cheap cost of one bucks for a bag...My best to you MKGUS and I will be here if you want to discuss other problem with stones...And thanks for your participation in experiments...
My experiment with tourmaline has made me wonder. If the electrical “signal” is affected by mere proximity to certain objects, what is already affecting my system that I’m not aware of? Does running your power lines in steel conduit sound different than in-wall Rolex? How about buried power vs. overhead? Etc, etc.
Indeed it is more fun to play with stones , and more impactful on a variety of attributes of the sound than buying a 10,000 dollars tubes amplifier, because I can also fine tune the sound, like changing tubes, but at very low cost...
And I am sure that the effect is more impactful...Because you know, I already own a TOTL amplifier, the vintage sansui AU 7700, and this Q-TRON amplifier that I dream about some years ago will crush it perhaps but not by a margin so large to overshadow it completely especially if i compare this change with the upgrading effect of the grid of stone in my audio system and on my actual amplifier potential revelatory quality...
I am fond of geology now it seems... :)
I hope some of you will think about, room treatment, vibrations controls, and cleaning the electro-magnetic grid of your house before any other expanses, this is the only justification for my rant here... I apologize for the feverish metaphorical rhetoric of my audio obsession here, but you will pardon me if you go with my advice...
I place a shungite "elite" variety piece on the usb connector of one of my S.G. and the sound begins to be more "fluid"...(it replace the tourmaline piece I remove for my jack Fostex T10 headphone and the T10 is so good already that it best all my other headphone even before adequate damping yet)
This change only is like the audible change when I add a very good cable interconnect in my system, the same order of magnitude change... Why placing only one piece shungite noble variety (the priciest shungite) on a S.G. passively connected to my grid of stones has a so great effect?
All my audio system is so sensible now that if I change the location of a piece of stone or crystals it is like changing the tube in a tube amplifier to choose the delicate, more pleasurable, "distorsion" of the sound... This is exactly so...
Or it is like my grid became a sort of "potential equalizer", but a super equalizer that can add for example a third dimension imaging power to an headphone or a speaker and not only modifying the frequencies...It is exactly that effect which I make in taping around the jack end of the cable of my T10 these stones together: tourmaline, shungite, Herkimer, chrysocolla beads , lava beads...All that together produced a metamorphosis of the imaging power of the T10 and a better natural timbre so much, that this T10 became my dearest best headphone now before even I complete yet the upgrading with some damping methods...
Nobody knows why, but my ears are glad even without explanation...
I needed 2 plate of shungite for a tweak on my T10 headphone and none were free of use...
I decide to take back 2 that block the hole of unused plate of 2 wall warts...Unused wall wart must be address because they interact with the E.M. field of the audio room... I takes them off yesterday, but today it seems that finally I will not keep them for the T10, then I place them back where they were the day before... Guess what? the sound quality improve a little and the sound came back like it was,but I did not feel the degradation when I remove them because I was on headphone.....It is my impression...Placebo effect? I dont think so...
Shungite is very efficient at this location and I will add copper thin foil also ...
You are right, I am no more in a state of absolute frustration... I can dream for sure about for example the Berning amplifier, but it is not necessary for me to buy one, because addressing this hi-fi dream with low cost tweaks I enjoy myself with a homemade musicality gained by my own experiments... It is not absolute TOTL HI-FI, but I dont give a damn if I enjoy my audio system at last...
And the margin of improvement between my music quality now and more costly product would not be so high (law of diminishing returns) and would be way less high than the big differences between my system few years ago and the same system tweaked now... This difference is way more bigger with the tweaks than the difference between my actual Sansui amplifier out of the box and the Berning amplifier I had dream about... This is because my tweaks are very efficient to gives me the desired results: acceptable musicality for my ears...
Thanks for the reply. In the end, "not able to afford Hi-fi sound" seems not to be the case, or at least your focus, these days. That sentence implied that money for more expensive equipment was the issue and tweaking was an attempt to improvise and improve the sound at much lower cost. If I understand it correctly now, you are actually not interested in obtaining those "unaffordable pieces" regardless of you personal funds situation which makes my previous suggestion completely miss the target.
By Hi-Fi sound some 7 years ago I was of the opinion that good Hi-FI is possible only with very high price gear...And that my vintage gear was not sufficient to gives me musicality...(subjective experience)
I had not much money then I bought vintage and used, speakers, headphone, amplifier ,dac… At the end even with very good product I was not satisfied...Frustrated at this times by the lack of the necessary amount of money that I was thinking at this times was absolutely necessary to produce high quality sound, I distract myself reading about tweaks...
Then first addressing vibrations controls by homemade methods, after that addressing room treatment by homemade methods, and finally noise level in my electro magnetic house grid and audio grid, playing with few crystals in the beginning, I go on and on and at the end, MIRACLES happen...The same devices that I found unsatisfactory at this times, even if they were TOTL vintage, now gives me musical pleasure because of this adventure with tweaks I installed for the embedding of my audio gear...
For sure now I can finally listen music without frustration and enjoy the hobby of tweaking my system more... My goal is at last in my own hand now and I can enjoy my discoveries with the dear music that this same system gives me playing at last at his optimal level because of all these tweaks ... My best to you...
A final remark:
I does not want to suggest that my system is now TOTL HI-FI by any means, only that NOW I enjoy his musicality without desesperation about his sound and for me that is enough...This is possible because the same system is now more in the state of his optimal playing because of all these tweaks I had used...Somes are evident and very well known, for example any audiophile know that to listen to speakers it is necessary to treat the room first,because speakers’s sound is linked to the room... Other tweaks are less evident for most , for example the electro-magnetic grid of the house affect greatly the potential sound of an audio system at a great extant...
I know now for sure that only an upgrade of materials would have not satisfy my needs without first addressing the room treatment, the vibrations-resonance problems, and the electro-magnetic grid of the house and room with his high level noise... I enjoy music now but I like to go on with the ride of homemade tweaks also because it is the pleasure of discovery...
"My experiments comes only from my desesperation because I cannot afford Hi-fi sound..."
What exactly would mean "affording Hi-fi sound" in this case? Is it a number/price attached to components you would buy if you had means? Is there a certain number/price that you think you could invest? Some highest limit?
I have an impression you enjoy this hobby of crystals and other unorthodox tweaks and that the road is actually the purpose. However, if you are really focused on final product, sound in this case, you may have better return of your investment and reach your perceived goal sooner, by building the system first. Starting with basic items (source, amplification, transducer) rather than collecting rocks. That is not to say that playing with whatever tweak you desire is not fun, but that achieving desired result is, to say it politely, somewhat dubious.
There are many contributors on this forum who bounce around names of their equipment with prices way into the category of "just because I could". Many people have extra pieces stashed somewhere in their basements, closets, and under the beds. Some of those items may, objectively, be closer to "Hi-fi sound" you mentioned. Sometimes, just asking may be enough. There are people who feel bad throwing perfectly functional equipment away, do not have any interest in extracting the last penny out of it by selling, and have no more need for it in the first place. They may be happy to give it to a good home.
Thanks very much for your interesting review and observation...And yes! miracles in audio are sometimes (a) (b) or (c)… I am interested personaly by your post information then thanks very much...
Would not call them miracles - A) excellent buys, B) great value or C) ground-breaking technological (new or modified) applications. Example: JOB SYSTEM PRODUCTS: preamp, power amp and integrated. In conjunction with Goldmund (a highly respected manufacturer of audiophile stereo equipment), JOB manufactured products very well received by reviewers and end users, at what appeared to be rock bottom prices. So much so - that they drove themselves out of business ( their direct business model obviously could not produce the volume needed to stay afloat). I have a JOB INT - an integrated amp of amazing power (195w/c/8ohms), warmth, pace and detailed presentation for $1695 (incl direct shipping from Goldmund in Switzerland). Unfortunately, this and any other JOB products are no longer available. I will begin to watch the used market - but I do hot expect to see many items come available; I would buy another JOB INT in a hearbeat...
MKGUS if you want going on with the stones, buy 200 grams of chrysocolla beads and put them at various location with the shungite and the tourmaline you already have... Rotate them, or add them together, try every variation or location and you will discovered the optimal use...Chrysocolla is a powerful stone indeed like malachite but cheaper...But before going on with too many stones, you must treat your room first, improve the resonance vibrations controls of your gear...
An example of the power of the stones to affect sound quality :
I add shungite to the exterior cups of the orthodynamic Fostex T10, and at the jack at the end of cable, I wrapped in a bag a mix of 4 mm lava beads with 4 mm chrysocolla beads + one Herkimer diamond of 8 mm...The results is astounding...The sound coming from the T10 is now more around my head than just around my brain if you know what I means... The imaging improve but especially the soundstage is more coherent, and more holographic...I am in love with the T10 now... And I had not even damped it yet...This rare vintage orthodynamic is the best of my headphone now but with the stones, without them no way...He replace the marvellous cheap and modified dynamic Fostex TH-7b in my heart ...
You can doubt what I say, you can trust what I say, I dont give a damn... But this year instead of expansive upgrade use your actuel audio system and improve it at low cost in the 3 directions I had described, the electro magnetic grid of the house and of the gear, the acoustic atmosphere of the room, the vibrations resonance field of the audio system.... You will perhaps thanks me later...
I am in the same league with you about that Mapman...Most of my tweaks are homemade...
For example to controls vibrations of my gear I use a sandwich of different materials that " couple-decouple" at the same times in some filtering way the transmission of vibrations and resonance... A level with quartz feet, granite plate, pieces of sorbothane, another granite plate, 4 large cork feet, bamboo plate, other sorbothane pieces... This same sandwich is under my speakers and under my dac, and under my amplifier... All that is on my desk (I know that this is not an ideal location but it is like it must be in my room now)… When the speakers are playing I touch my desk and sense no vibrations at all...The level of vibration is indeed minimal... The cost of that is around 100 bucks...
And I will improve it greatly one day with a quartz crystal sand bed (an Acoustic Revive idea) and some springs for the dac and amp.( the springs are an idea of Geoffkait)… My other project are the preparation of sand crystals bands for cables (an idea of Whostolethebatmobile), and the homemade fabrication of room resonator with brass bowl ( this idea comes from some audio designers that sell it at too costly price for my purse, except Geoffkait that sell some at reasonable price).
I’m all for inexpensive or just plain practical home grown tweaks that work. Smart audiophiles do it all the time. Rugs, fuses, furniture, plants.....you name it.
A LAST THING, remember that audiophiles are sometimes ready to pay big money for a little change in their imaging or soundstage or bass etc...
I am also an amateur of good sound but I dont have big money... The change I observe toward improvement and a better musical experience were sometimes spectacular in my audio system and way more astounding sometimes than just a normal upgrading effect... My system nude without nothing to improve the electrical grid, the acoustic of the room, without controls of the bad resonance, my system before is no comparison at all with his state after...
The money I pay in trials and errors to pick the right headphone, the right dac, the right amplifier ,the right speakers were a few thousand dollars... But the cost of my actual system of choice is around 600 bucks in total perhaps less...( I bought TOTL vintage and used except the dac)
The cost to improve it to his optimal level is around a 600 bucks for the different stones only...The cost for treating my room is low and homemade, same thing for the cost of vibrations controls except for some more costly product...
ALL in ALL the cost of the " therapeutical" means must be equal to the cost of the audio system...
But after all that I am way more impermeable to marketing influence ,hype, new product, because my audio system gives me real music now not a frustrating interesting noise that I would upgrade by unsatisfaction each weeks God gives to us...
My description here with the words I use like "filtering" for example has ABSOLUTELY no scientific pretense at all... It is only a way to describe and convey to others and explain with words to myself what is going on metaphorically... Someone else will describe it differently with his own vocabulary... Someone more a scientist can explain it perhaps at a detailed scientific level...But i dont think that this person is on this forum... There is not much literature,if there is some, about audio and stones and crystals inserted in an electrical audio grid relatively to sound perception...
A simple remark about noise level and electronics:
Each piece of electronic you add, is an ACTIVE component, being a capacitor, transistor ,filter etc and will add noise OF HIS OWN MAKING to the noise level...
If you add a stone you add a PASSIVE component that would not add any noise of his own...
Then the filtering general effect of each stone must be finetuned to the specific needs of each electrical grid and each audio system, sometimes this will not be optimal, but the stone is PASSIVE and dont add noise to the general noise level of the system...This is very important to understand...
A conditioner for example will filter your line BUT will add a noise of his own, killing dynamic in some case etc...Myself I use a conditioner but I use stones to compensate his own negative effect... Then with the right stones all is better... Samething with a bettery noise ...etc
I must say one important thing now... The experiment I give to MKGUS is only a beginning...
One must before playing with the idea of a grid of stones,
FIRST treat his system against mechanical vibrations and resonance...Most audiophile underestimated completely the plague of resonance in his negative effect on the sound trough ALL pieces of gear even the power strip etc...
SECOND, treat his room because the sound of the speakers is makes BY the room TO the ears, even in nearfield listening...
THIRD and only third you can begin to treat the electro-magnetic grid of the house, and of the audio system (it is not the samething) The stones can help there, because they will act like some filters and will lower the general noise level of the electrical grid and also inserted in the audio grid they will lower the noise level around the connectors, cables and each pieces of gear...
Mapman I understand your point but you forget one important thing :
The process of using crystals is not simple indecomposable one act or gesture....It is a set of experiments each time conducted with the feed back of your ears...Each crystals and stones had his proper effect very different of one another... The experiment consist in trying each stone to improve the sound and when, imaging is better, soundstage is better, instrumental timbre better etc etc Bingo it is it...But sometimes we must try a few because one stone or crystal can accentuate a set of frequencies at the expanse of other frequencies in an individuated particular audio system embedded in a particular electrical grid... The idea to connect with cables my stones comes after I observed that certain stones act better if I located them together, because one compensate for the action of the other with positive results...( I even go further adding not only batteries but Shumann Generator that enhance the stones grid being connected to it)
After that I decide to connect with a very thin hair-like cable some duos of stones, located at different spots in my audio system and that was great, because they all compensate for one another...I added batteries that enhance the stones grid...
Then your objection is only valid virtually, in reality and concretely i use different stones to correct exaggerated effects...The final results is not distorsions "per se" but better music...
A stone is like a tube inserted in an audio system, the distorsion introduced can be favorable or detrimental...We must choose each tubes correctly... Samething with stones that act collectively if connected...
Tourmaline , Chrysocolla or malachite, jade or nephrite, lava beads, kambaba jasper, Madagascar agate, varieties of quartz (lemurian or pink etc) ataxite, shungite, and many others all had a proper effect that you can pinpoint...
For example I recommend to the gentleman MKGUS that observe the effect on his electrical central panel 2 stones to begin with at this spot :
It is not an accident if I say so...Tourmaline added always like a filtering effect, some clarification of the sound frequencies... And shungite gives body to the sound among others effects and act always good in connector or power strip etc... Shungite is a powerful shielding stone that act synergetically with crystals... The 2 together must generally at this spot act positively...
Like MKGUS said : «For one, the imaging seemed all over the place so much so that it sounded like a new track I’m not familiar with »
This seems to me the beginning of a positive effect... The rest of the story is only refinement with trials and errors...Like I myself play with, experimenting many dozen of stones for the last years...My system dont only "distort" the signals like a bad tube amplifier but makes music better like a good tube amplifier, in one case the distortion is perveived like a noise, in another case the distortion is perceived like music... … This is a fact...
Mapman I think you are right... Shielding is one aspect that explain certainly in part the audible effect but not all I think... Remember my stones are connected in a grid, if i disconnect some cables the effect is audible for each stones and connection with a degree of impact that is variable but observable...My best to you...
One possibility for a definite improvement, as opposed to just a change or nothing, is if the carbon or crystals provided some kind of shielding effect. That’s possible I suppose but if so there may be other more practical ways to achieve similar effect, mu metal for example. I use that with my low-level phono step-up transformer. Hum and noise induced from nearby appliance motors or other devices nearby is readily apparent otherwise.
I can’t think of any reason or scenario where crystals would have a positive effect. Mucking with a signal is usually a bad thing unless mucked with in a very specific way for a very specific reason.
One might perceive a positive effect due to expectation bias in any case no matter what the change. Crystals for example are cool and interesting (to a geologist anyway) so one wants to hear positive results?
That’s not to say it can’t have some effect whenever new electric fields are present or teh material affects those already present. Any of the minerals mentioned might be capable of this in some cases, crystals due to piezo electricity and the mineral composed mostly of carbon in proximity MIGHT have some effect on the existing electromagnetic fields.
Same true with external magnetic fields. We know what they can do to signals and its always bad ie add noise and distortion. Less noise/distortion is typically the desired outcome, not more. Noise/distortion is always public enemy #1 when it comes to good sound quality. Not to say in some cases adding noise/distortion might produce some perceived positive effect. An example would be adding random dither but that again is a very specific addition added in a very specific way for a very specific purpose.
So the experiments are interesting but I personally do not see a clear scenario where the effects would be clearly positive.
I received a chunk of tourmaline in the mail. It’s about half a pound, 4” in length and 2” in diameter. I placed it on top of the electrical panel near the two hot main cables (120V US system) coming in with the grains parallel to the two cables. I also relocated a shungite pyramid from the front of the panel to the top center with the point facing up. I went to the listening room, sat down, quieted my mind and hit play on a track I’m familiar with. Huh, it definitely sounded different. It’s hard to describe how the sound changed. For one, the imaging seemed all over the place so much so that it sounded like a new track I’m not familiar with. I went back to the panel and removed the tourmaline and put the shungite back where it was originally. The sound I am used to came back, reaffirmaing that I wasn’t imagining things. Even though I wasn’t ecstatic about the change in sound with this experiment, I’m counting this experience as a win because it proved to me that crystals can indeed affect the sound. It definitely didn’t sound bad. Just different than what I am used to. I am confident if one has the knowledge, they could use crystals to tweak the sound of their system. Now I just need to learn how to use them. Any pointers would be much appreciated.
Some guy here for the first times experimented with shungite and tourmaline on top of the central electrical panel of his house and notice an objective audible positive change.. I recommend also for others that dont have this possibility because they rent a room to try with the conditioner or the wall wart or power strip .... He wrote privately, I hope that he will wrote himself his testimony here publicly in this thread for the benefit of all... : )
I must say now that without this simple idea of the Geoffkait peebles that I read about some years ago, i would always be in my first steps without having all the ideas that comes to me after that... It was like an inspiration and and incitation to experiment with that... This is the reason for which I respect his ideas, not only because he is articulate and knowledgeable...But it is not proof by any means that all he say is right for sure, but he is not often stupid if I can say... :)
My experiments comes only from my desesperation because I cannot afford Hi-fi sound...I would have tried anything that I can try... I read much, and try simple things... Isolating from vibrations, room treatment organized by many sessions of ears listening then this was not optimal but way better than the nude room. I tried stones and crystals after reading many other guys that tried it like Geoffkait first...Except that by reading more I discover some costly invention that inspire me, to try more, I go from Machina Dynamica loose peebles idea, to acoustic revive products, to Stein harmonizer idea etc in this increasing complexity order with the use of crystals...Inspired by that I try my homemade grid of stones cabled and battery powered, a small improvement after another each time...The Helmholtz bottles and Shumann generator modified and linked to my stones grid are the last but not the least useful tweaks ….
I dont like the word "tweaks" because it seems to evoke a secondary means to improve the sound... But for me " tweaks" are primary and mandatory means to gain Hi-fi, more than the wiseful choice of an amplifier... You can easily choose any " relatively good" amplifier, but if you install it in a location that is not controlled, cleaned, and protected, you will not listening to it at his optimal level at all... Then at the end obtaining HI-FI is not possible only because you are buying an adequate amplifier for example, but are way more linked to the means which you used to embed it in your audio grid....That is what I learned … I learn also that homemade solutions cost not much money....That six 10 bucks S.G. modified are equal or better than only one acoustic Revive S.G. for 600 hundred bucks,because if only that, you can install them at 6 different location in your audio room and reinforce the effect...Etc...You can modify a 10 bucks toy and play with it without fear, but who mods a 600 hundred dollars toy risking destroying his value? When you buy a 600 dollars S.G. you do not think first that it will be better to put stones near it on top of it and cabling it etc...You think instead that it is the better the money can buy and touch it no more after installing it somewhere... :)
I would say what your wife thinks is much more important than what anyone else thinks. I applaud your passion for good sound and your very interesting experiments.
Apart for the fact that nephrite and shungite are not piezoelectric like quartz and tourmaline for example, you mention an interesting point indeed Mapman, there must be some stress to begins with (for tourmaline heat, for quartz mechanical stress(vibrations) or for the reverse piezo effect some electrical stress on the quartz). It is for these reasons that I think there is more than just the piezoelectrical effect...Nephrite and shungite are not piezo and many of my stones, jasper, agate, etc are not under stresses...
Or perhaps I am nut... My wife think so, but she think the sound is very good and improving... :)
As I understand it the crystal must be subjected to physical stress like a vibration to release an electrical charge or vice versa. So if you are hearing something and that is not the case that would indicate what you are hearing is due to something other than piezoelectric characteristics of your crystals.
Even if that were the case, how that would necessarily result in better sound is beyond me. I suppose if enough electric charge were released in proximity to a sensitive circuit, there would be some effect even if not audible.
A question for Mapman or Geoff about piezoelectricity....
Quartz is piezoelectric, tourmaline also at certain extent, if heated, but jade or nephrite I think are not piezoelectric, then when located in my cable grid or near the S.G., they should not affect the sound the way piezoelectric quartz or Herkimer for example did, but I sense an audible very particular effect on the sound quality with nephrite (jade) (each kind of stones act particularly and differently on the sound)…
Then if you are right Geoff and if the piezoelectric effect is the only culprit and cause of the change in sound, why nephrite also does change the sound quality or even shungite ? Shungite has no piezoelectric property I think and his effect on sound,positive or negative, near gear or electrical panel are very audible without doubt at all....
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