Yes! We are connected for the better or worst …. :)
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...
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I had the same idea some years ago ! wow! Minus some differences :) My platform isolation sandwiches: (1) quartz pieces for the Woodpecker head bone that serve me as feet for the gear (yes the pecker is on his head!) (2) Bamboo and cork for his brain tissue (3)granite plate+sorbothane for is regular bones and ligaments |
Here’s a new twist. 🕺🏻 A recent venture into the dark kinky world of vibration isolation a couple of years ago resulted in my “Woody the Woodpecker” Isolation Stand. This stand emulated the special physical and functional characteristics of a woodpecker’s head, which evolved over who knows how long? My iso stand combines (1) a bed of tiny glass micro beads (woodpecker head tissue, extremely round and hard), (2) a container of bamboo (woodpecker head bone) and constrained layer damping for the feet (woodpecker connecting ligaments). These special characteristics of the woodpecker’s prevent injury or death whilst he pecks on trees for insects. The woodpecker’s head encounters enormously high negative g’s, around 1000 g’s. 😬 |
Some crystals resonate more with some people than others. That’s kind of why crystals are assigned vibration numbers. We covered that a couple weeks ago. That was Crystals 101. Now, from what I can gather, there are physical characteristics of crystals, like unique symmetrical crystal structure that affect the sound more directly, but there are also crystals also have metaphysical properties that may be responsible, at least in part, for what one hears by affecting the listener consciously or subconsciously rather than by affecting the audio system. The listener cannot distinguish between the purely physical influence of crystals and their metaphysical influence. It all results in the perception of better sound. Also, keep in mind there are bad places for crystals, too. Be ever vigilant! 😛 That will be covered in Crystals 301. |
You know the story of Napoleon? One day some women ask him how he choose his marshalls...He smile when the ladies speak of force, strength, skill, strategy, intelligence, horsemanship, he smile a while and say :«My ladies a marshall is useful for a long time only if he has luck»...Luck is one of the decisive factor in life... Without luck the other factors are not so useful...And without any other things luck can make someone go a long marvellous way...Konwledge is very importand and study, but luck is a factor also... |
Stumbling on an unexpected opportunity,for example the relatively unknown dac I discover by chance and reading on EBAY is what I call luck...This dac I bid for it 20 bucks is irreplaceable by ratio quality/price, really irrepleacable...That is a part of my audio history and this is really luck... Dac of the highest quality cost are really high, it is very difficult to own an endgame at a cheap price... Nearly impossible ...Without luck and some search for sure... |
Also something to keep in mind, even though I intimated this before, all these rocks, pebbles, stones and crystals and what have you are not (rpt not) operating by the same physical principles nor (rpt nor) are they performing the same function. Some pills make you larger, some pills make you small, and the ones your mother gives you don’t do anything at all. 😬 |
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An absorbing or reflecting layer on the cable jacket exterior would probably not accomplish any more than “proper shielding.” RF comes in on the line and generated by the electronics. Now shielding is being raised to an art form by Audioquest and others, including but not limited to rf filters. And there are many other ways to help deal with the rf problem, including robust wall capacitor type filters, speaker terminal attachments (filters), power line conditioners, Bybee doohickies perhaps, Quantum Corp. devices which I think are now extinct, Tice Clock, and a host of other things audiophiles hold dear. You could move to a remote island somewhere. Or, you could turn your whole house into a first order Faraday cage, which is what I’m attempting to do. 🤗 |
It would be quite useful if the outer layer of a cable absorbed EM frequencies, then a sub-layer reflected them, back into the outer absorbing layer. For the inner surface of the same cable coating, you would have an absorbing layer, but not a reflecting layer. Instead you would deal with the internally emitted EM by direct conversion to heat, via one of several well known mechanisms. |
The interesting thing about white cables is that while it’s true that the color white reflects all visible colors, the radio frequencies we are talking about are much higher in frequency than visible colors on the electromagnetic spectrum and are not (rpt not) reflected or absorbed by color per se. by the same token, objects that are the color black may or may not absorb all EM frequencies. They may (most likely) only absorb frequencies in the visible light portion. So, the white cable thing is more mysterious than it might at first appear. 😬 |
For emi coming into cables or any equipment from anywhere/everywhere, there would seem to be 2 ways of dealing with it. Absorb or reflect. If it is absorbed, surely it must be dealt with (preferably converted to heat) before it is allowed to interfere with the audio signal. If it is reflected it might arrive somewhere else undesirable. Unless all equipment and cables were treated to reflect. There must be some good reason why the Belts preferred white cables. Perhaps a substance with an extremely high refractive index might be useful. |
Radio frequencies are like Chicken Man. He’s everywhere! He’s everywhere! RF is coming in through the windows, coming in through the walls, rf is entering the unused wall outlets throughout the house or apartment. Radio frequencies (electromagnetic waves) are produced by electronic components, especially microprocessors. Since radio frequencies are photons and travel at light-speed, directing them away from one object simply allows them to go and affect something else, no? Does carbon absorb photons in the rf spectrum? Carbon seems to be rather good at absorbing visible light. A comprehensive program of radio frequency shielding, absorption and suppression is required to effectively deal with the pernicious and tenacious problem of rf interference. A couple of suggestions are Machina Dynamica Flying Saucers 🛸 for Windows and Flying Saucers 🛸 for unused wall outlets everywhere in the house or apartment. There is a 3M rf absorbing product that can be easily cut into rectangles or squares and stuck onto the tops of microprocessors but the name of the product escapes me. |
Power to the Pebble! ✊ "From my limited experience with the crystals it appears to me in my system that they work anywhere, whether placed on the amplifier, preamp, CD player, DAC or even on the top of power conditioners - the same way. Best at improving imaging and dynamics...enjoyable when placed in the rear corners, enjoyable anywhere." - V.R. Sola, 2004 "I cannot listen to my system any more without the pebbles." - Hans-Peter, Switzerland, 2004 Hi-Fi News Show, London, Sept 2003 -- Audiopax/Ecosse/Meitner exhibit coordinator (Precious Music, Scotland): "Now, if I say that dozens of people said we had the best sound at show, many other said we had the best sound they had ever heard, many dealers, competitors and reviewers came round to check out the room and in particular the Audiopax Amp and Meitner dac...well you can imagine we felt pretty pleased with our efforts." (4 Brilliant Pebbles were used in this room -- one on each Audiopax speaker and two in room corners.) "After some experimentation...I tried them in the rear corners of my room behind the speakers and liked them very, very much. They appear to affect the entire presentation in these locations -- providing more clarity, detail and, for lack of a better term, "naturalness" that is quite appealing. Soundstaging and "image density" is improved; treble is more extended and the bass has more snap and fullness to it. Micro- and macro-dynamics are enhanced. I already had the corners treated with Roomtune strips and corner tunes and use Argent Room lenses in the system. How do the pebbles work??? -- I'm intrigued, to say the least. I've been "Machina Dynamica-ized" for the second time." -- Jim O'Neill, O'Neill Medical, 2003 |
Getting back to audio...(and miracles) For some reason, I am finding that the crystals and minerals that result in some of the most dramatic sound improvements are ones containing copper. Chrysocolla - (Cu,Al)2H2Si2O5(OH)4·nH2O (copper phyllosilicate) Azurite - Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2 (copper carbonate) Malachite - Cu2CO3(OH)2 (copper carbonate) Turquoise - CuAl6(PO4)4(OH)8·4H2O (copper hydrated phosphate) all the above tested, all incredible performers in the order listed (Chrysocolla best). I must try to get hold of some chalcopyrite CuFeS2. I’ve had promising results with pyrite which I have on hand, but it contains only iron FeS2. I have to stress that these crystals and minerals need to be activated and distributed by other substances (as used in CrystalTops) or methods (as in Mahgister’s powered grid). In my experience, you can’t just plonk a rock on your amp or speakers and expect a miracle (maybe you can hear differences, but they will probably be subtle). |
Wikipedia :«Goethe also had the largest private collection of minerals in all of Europe. By the time of his death, in order to gain a comprehensive view in geology, he had collected 17,800 rock samples.» Wikipedia text: « Novalis, himself a geologist and mining engineer, expressed the opinion that Goethe was the first physicist of his time and ’epoch-making in the history of physics’, writing that Goethe’s studies of light, of the metamorphosis of plants and of insects were indications and proofs ’that the perfect educational lecture belongs in the artist’s sphere of work’; and that Goethe would be surpassed ’but only in the way in which the ancients can be surpassed, in inner content and force, in variety and depth—as an artist actually not, or only very little, for his rightness and intensity are perhaps already more exemplary than it would seem’» Younger I read all Novalis, geologist and poet with an unsurpassed intuition and dead before 30... |
I listen now a files that I listened to the last time 45 years ago on a turntable with Tannoy speakers....David Munrow medieval music Art of the Netherlands....And the effect is speaker- like in my headphone cheap Fostex with Herkimer and each cup damped with sorbothane and the headband also damped for negative resonance; for sure also with shungite on each of the cup... … I remember each sound of this marvellous interpretation like yesterday because the sound from my Fostex now is the same that from my speakers at these times... In my other headphone that does not sound so much like 45 years ago with this astounding bass voice behind....The most important factor for me in music listening is the naturalness of the timbre and after that imaging... |
Remember that cabling the stones augment their compensating mutual influence and power (the thinner the cable the better with some battery) If I take off my stones my soundspace decrease between my speakers without any depth...In nearfield listening or normal listening...In my headphone or in my speakers the effect is the same and audible ... |
The 3 more potent stones I know are in order : Shungite( may damage sound if too much near some gear but act more on the environment of the sound), Herkimer (enhancer and clarifier of sound), Tourmaline (clarity of sound)...They are useful in audio, and without them really my actual system does not please me... Some other stones are interesting and I use them...varieties of Quartz, pink, lemurian etc they all have their particularities...Audible... Agathe of Madagascar and amethyst are good also but way less potent act more on timbre …. I like the effect of Kambaba Jasper, this kind of stone had an effect very special on the imaging of the sound in space... Jade or his cousin nephrite also but more tenderly...I love nephrite... |
Yes graphene is an excellent rf shield. And the best on a per weight basis. Although weight may be important in the semiconductor industry, in audio the fact that graphene is one atom thick is neither here nor there (in shielding applications), which is why shungite and carbon black etc. can do more effective shielding on a per dollar basis. I use shungite instead of graphene for that reason (and a few other reasons). What I would like to know is - what happens to the shielded energy after it hits the graphene or shungite? |