2. misc-audio
  3. 150390-100071

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
b_mueller
45 posts
 
I used 1 mm stainless steel cables. Maybe other choices could improve the results?
mahgister's avatar
mahgister OP
12,545 posts
 



I used 1 mm stainless steel cables. Maybe other choices could improve the results?
I dont think nylon cable will improve but.....

How do you attach the cable?

b_mueller
45 posts
 
I drilled four holes to the top of each loudspeaker case and inserted threads that take lugs. There are four ropes per speaker. Each speaker weighs 25 kg. At the ceilings, the four lugs are positioned wider compared to the top of the speaker.
cd318
2,636 posts
 
@b_mueller,

"With suspension, loudspeakers can move freely in the horizontal plane. And they will, in response to the music signal emitted by the drivers (Newton 3rd law).

However, they do so with a frequency below the audible spectrum and the movements have no detrimental effect on the sound. To the contrary, the fixation of loudspeakers with stands, spikes etc. may transform these movements into nasty sound colorations."


I remember reading somewhere that the relatively low moving mass of the drivers in comparison to the weight of the cabinet should not cause any perceptible signal loss even in the worst case scenario of a long throw driver in a small lightweight box.

This was in regard to the use of compliant footers. 

With a suspended system the advantages of isolation from resonance must be even greater. 

Externally excited cabinet resonances must already be at minimum. Changing the steel cables to something like high strength plastic with more damping might be better or it might not.


Maybe too little friction or inertia might lead to the undesirable situation would be where the speakers start to visibly swing to and fro?

I'm any case, I think this is something we will hear more about in future. I bet even as we speak someone somewhere might be considering the various possible marketing options behind this novel idea.

Capitalism is a certainly a great system but one of its major flaws might be that really good advice and ideas often don't get the publicity they deserve until someone finds a way to make a profit out of them.
mahgister's avatar
mahgister OP
12,545 posts
 
I drilled four holes to the top of each loudspeaker case and inserted threads that take lugs. There are four ropes per speaker. Each speaker weighs 25 kg. At the ceilings, the four lugs are positioned wider compared to the top of the speaker.
Thanks very good advice indeed....
More to discover