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
Among other things graphene is an excellent rf shield. The very best on a per weight basis.  Make sense?
Graphite, carbon black, shungite and even activated charcoal (face cleanser), all work as a poor man's substitute for graphene. Shungite is by far the best of them. In addition they can act as an organic filler within a polymer, for vibration control via intercalation of the carbon and polymer molecules.
Well I would hate to contribute to any more of that. But graphene does seem to know what you want it to do. Or maybe it just does what it wants. Funny thing is, it takes its time. Like linking segments, or spreading tentacles or something. Please don't try to prove or disprove that technically. And I do think it facilitates signal transfer (safer than mentioning electrons) in metal conductors, merely by being in close proximity.
I’m shocked that there is so much disinformation and misinformation in the audio hobby. 🙄
I gave up on that topic when somebody helpfully pointed out that electrons don’t flow. And I was told that graphene is only graphite and you can’t paint it on. And anyway it's all snake oil so why bother?
OK, I’m going to help you out. Here’s a copy of the first paragraph of your OP from April 2019. Hope you don’t mind too much. What I call the carbon connection. Let’s get down to the real nitty-gritty. 🤗

“Cable insulation, graphene, electron flow... how does it work?

From my limited experience with graphene pasted on fuses, it appears to work when painted on the glass only. And I know that graphene painted on the exterior of capacitors can help improve sound quality, presumably by facilitating electron flow to and from the capacitors. I know graphene works on any exposed wire or solder joint. It also works when painted on the insulation of cables. It does not control vibration to my knowledge. Therefore, something crazy is happening whereby the graphene is facilitating the flow of electricity, even when applied outside the insulation.”

Haha. We're probably not on the same page. But it doesn't matter, you're usually interesting to read, and perhaps I may be occasionally.
whostolethebatmobile,

I suspect we’re not on the same page. This is not my first rodeo, cowboy. I thought you would pick up on that. 🤠
Good on you Mahgister. You are way ahead of the average audio enthusiast. I am lucky that one or two generous and very smart people helped me realise what could be possible. I have also conducted my own totally different experiments in my laundry. I stumbled onto some extremely effective and low cost solutions.
Thanks whostolethebatmobile I note that...


By the way our experiments are different, we use stones and crystals, mine natural, yours artificial, it is interesting for me to learn about your experiments...

Just a word about my use of stones,rocks, and crystals...
I put them all along the way from my gear to the electrical central panel of my house...(for example tiles of shungite on top of the electrical central panel of my house made miracles to the sound) each rocks act his own way, I listen to decide which is his way...


The minerals that are on my gear or near them are connected by cables with one another with thin copper cable (hairlike), all is linked to magnets placed on 6 volts or 1.5 volts batteries (A dozen). This grid change the image and sound to my liking, ...I treated all my room at low cost by trials and errors with my ears, and added many Helmholtz bottles and 4 Schuman Generator tweaked with minerals, and cabled with some home made antennas...I use my ears and modify my gear in a process that gave to me more and more quality...The minerals are the costly parts...If I add all costs...The last result is so shokingly good I dont believe it myself...It is the tweaks I made on my cheapest headphone that is now the best I ever heard... Fostex TH-7B...I decide to post this miracle and wait for some others to describe to me their own miracle...I thank you for that...The experience of one inspire all...
Don't forget polyaniline, Na-MMT, titanium dioxide, bentonite, aluminium oxide, silicon carbide...
When I mentioned my favourite crystals, I thought you might pick up on that.
whostolethebatmobile
What say we open the discussion up to similar materials, you know, carbon fiber, graphite, carbon black, graphene and any other carbon-based audiophile stuff? I couldn’t help notice you asked some very good questions regarding graphene in an OP earlier in the year.
We’ve already established shungite is not crystalline. I never said rocks couldn’t ever be crystalline. Rocks is a broad term. It doesn’t mean anything. I don’t wish to engage in semantics. 😬
whostolethebatmobile
Turquoise doesn’t form single crystals - but it is cryptocrystalline. That doesn’t stop it from being useful for audio. Shungite is not a crystal at all, but that doesn’t stop it from being extremely useful and beneficial for audio.

>>>>You’re telling me? I never said otherwise. 
Thanks Carpathian. The trouble was I was looking on this site (forum.audiogon.com) rather than the main site. That's why I couldn't find anything!
You are welcome Mahgister. For anyone who is wondering, I am offering the 10 free sets to Audiogon members, at no charge and with free postal delivery. I’m doing this for fun as a hobby, I’m not a dealer and they are not for sale anywhere. But I think they are interesting, and not like any commercial product as far as I know. They are based on paper, with crushed crystal on top and shungite on the bottom. There are other ingredients, but I can’t give everything away!
Mahgister, your samples are on their way. I hope you like them, though I wouldn’t be surprised if they disturb the careful balance you have already achived with your own experiments. One thing I am sure, you will notice the effect, welcome or otherwise.

Anyone reading this who would like to try some delivered free via post, just let me know. I could do about 10 sets (one set per reader) without stress. They are fun. All you need is some blu-tac or double sided tape.
Turquoise doesn’t form single crystals - but it is cryptocrystalline. That doesn’t stop it from being useful for audio. Shungite is not a crystal at all, but that doesn’t stop it from being extremely useful and beneficial for audio.
When I said shungite is a rock what I mean, in case anyone didn’t catch it the first time, is that it’s not crystalline. It’s not a crystal. It’s actually closer to petroleum. More to the point it doesn’t act like a crystal. It’s not a resonator.
Life as a whole is pretty much just one big gigantic freakin miracle and that goes double for recordings and hifi.  

You are right...It is a rock, my English is so distasteful that I had failed to distinguish between the 2 terms...Thanks for the correction...
Let’s compromise and call it a rock. Shungite is neither a crystal or a stone. The tipoff is that it’s mostly carbon. Crystals act as resonators. Rocks not so much.
I speak about crystals and stones...Shungite is a stone yes and very potent for audio cleaning noise...But not beneficial if you put the shungite directly on the main gear, better on cable, power supply, electrical panels etc...Or near the gear without touching it...
As fate would have it shungite isn’t even a crystal. Now, we’re getting somewhere. 🤗

Shungite is a black, lustrous, non-crystalline mineraloid consisting of more than 98 weight percent of carbon. It was first described from a deposit near Shunga village, in Karelia, Russia, from where it gets its name. Shungite has been reported to contain trace amounts of fullerenes (0.0001 < 0.001%).[1][2]


Thanks Geoff, that explain perhaps my negative impression for turquoise in audio experiments...
Gosh! I am very interested by your experiments....I use shungite also, it is a very important discovery for me that shungite play an extraordinary role in my system cleanliness...I use 3 tiles on top of my house electrical panel with amazing results...
Turquoise is all impurities, actually. Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrated phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula CuAl6(PO4)4(OH)8·4H2O. 

Cheers
Yes Geoff, but crushed natural crystal such as turquoise or malachite can contain significant amounts of impurities such as pyrite, or just plain rock.
Uh, it’s the impurities that give crystals their color. Even artificial crystals. Hel-loo!
One substance I use is shungite, which you have already mentioned. But I use it in powder form, not stones.
My favourite artificial crystals are ruby and moissanite.
What other substances are you using to enhance the artificial crystals?


Yes if I think a bit lack of impurities must play the role for a better effect on sound....
In general I find crystals need to be activated and augmented by other substances. And vice-versa. Artificial crystals can be superior to natural crystals because in a given quantity, there are no impurities. And they can be much, much cheaper.
I have tried many many kind of crystals and stones,way beyond the point of beginners self fulfilling prophecy because the effects always were unexpected and very powerful in many cases in the positive or negative directions...And NO crystals act the same in an audio grid, except if you pack them together....I dont pack them together mixed...But it is sometimes very interesting to apply one with another because they mutually paired well and compensate each other...For example ataxite on top of the shungite for my electrical central panel...


And for example Turquoise does not act very well in an audio grid compared to tourmaline, amethyst,agathe, pink quartz for example, turquoise affect negatively most of the time except perhaps far from the gear and on top of the central electrical panel like aquarium peebles, because this is for audio more subtle application very near the gear not so good stones at all... We can use it like I used them (aquarium cheap peebles) in quantity for my exterior electrical line at cheap cost...
I never met a crystal I didn’t like. But crystals don’t act like people think they do. That can be a problem. Consequently, people tend to get carried away before it’s too late. It’s a common audiophile phenomenon; they get all revved up. There is a name for it in psychology. Self-fulfilling prophecy, or something like that. 

geoff kait
machina dynamica
We Do Artificial Atoms ⚛️ Right! 🤗
One thing that surprize me was the cost of the synthetic stones,higher than the natural one same quantity, for example tourmaline in this list:


http://https//www.gemsngems.com/product-category/rough-stones/lab-created-rough/

I am very curious to compare the difference between natural and synthetic, the problem is the cost; and how can the synthetic be better or even equal to the natural? And be it on the same level as the natural kind, if the synthetic are costlier than it is less interesting, except if they are better of course? Perhaps the crystalline purest structure without impurities is the key? What do you think?
The most effective artificial crystals are these one on the list you give on your post : azurite, malachite, turquoise, mica and ruby.

Or there is also other one you have tried?


I never tried artificial stones, and would never even had the idea except for your suggestion...


I use them crushed, painted onto paper with various other ingredients, and wrapped around RCA or XLR connectors or cut into small pieces (15mm square) placed in strategic positions. I can send you (or anyone else) some examples to try, my pleasure. I’m not selling them, they are just gifts for friends and interested individuals such as yourself. I call them CrystalTops. You can also cut a 3mm square or a 3x5mm rectangle, superglue it to a standard fuse and save yourself some money.
Interesting whostolethebatmobile...

Have you compare these crystals natural versus artificial? In what sense are they more powerful? And where do you place them, how do you use them?

Thanks very much for your time and interest...
I will share my discovery that lab created crystals seem to be in general more powerful for audio than natural ones. This includes azurite, malachite, turquoise, mica and ruby.
It seems that except for " the man for the future" I am the only audiophile living with miracles who tell stories... : )

Ok another one for those who live without miracles...

Buy 1 shungite tile (250 gram), and 1 ataxite stone(meteorite 200 gram) put the ataxite on top of the shungite tile and put that on top of the principal electrical central panel of the house... the simple adjunction of these 2 stones will have the impact of a costly upgrade at a low price, that will clean some noise on the grid... Call that a miracle in audio for the day....