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It's always fun when a guy walks into a fabric store, especially here in the midwest. For extra enjoyment, insist on explaining in painful detail what you intend to do with this tiny bit of felt. Wink a lot. Be sure to mention my name.
While you're there, ask for the quickie tutorial on the different grades of felt available and what can be done with them (eg, shrinking). Investigate the role of wool in felt and acoustic absorption. If you can, start collecting different grades and porosities. Think of them the way you would about a set of different-sized screwdrivers-- it's good to have a variety on hand.
Everybody make a point of introducing members of your family to good sound as you get together over the holiday. That's a big part of what this thread is about: good sound that doesn't break the bank.
There are a few books in the wild on the subject and a cool magazine on natural fibers. Then for those lucky enough to be in the Midwest or other agrarian areas, the local county fair is a wealth of local fiber and knowledge. Felt is not terribly hard to make with the proper setup and very simple tools. For headphone damping quantities, a large sushi rolling mat is big enough to do the job. I'm fortunate to have found local sources for wool and alpaca fibers and I might have a line on mohair too.
Enough that I'll probably upgrade my rolling mat to a much larger size and make felt for coats and hats as well as my speakers.
I've tried over two dozen felts from 3 different chains, but so far none have the acoustic properties of the magical felts from Italy. Now, I'll admit I'm probably splitting hairs to most, but the differences are audible and much easier to achieve with the Oz felt from Italy.
It's funny, I've introduced my family and friends, but they prefer to just come listen to my gear than invest in there own. I love my bargain cans, but for me it has lead to the building of more complicated or more expensive custom headphones and amps. These new headphones, while planar, aren't orthos and they have something called a bias voltage.
Now my friends are waiting for this amp to be built (and harassing me about getting it done) so they can hear the cans and amp. I wish they would fund a few commissioned builds though, as I need to order some more parts and I don't want to dip into my non-hobby funds to spring for them.
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It's really nice to know that you paid 20 dollars for your favorite headphone, and hand tuned it specifically to be perfect. It's a very differnent feeling from the one I get when I take my LCD-2 out of the drawer and I'm always on the verge of an anxiety attack because of the investment in them. I guess for me, there can be more than just SQ that makes music enjoyable. But that doesn't stop the lust for perfection...
You've put your finger on a psychological kernel that underlies much of the emotion you see expended on this forum. The question of whether to shoot one's wad on the State of the Art accessory (headphone, lens, guitar pick) or go for the highest bang/buck-ratio item is perennial and will always be with us. I can understand and sympathize with both approaches, especially as a former camera and bike geek. Sometimes the state of the art is so imperfect that you simply throw money at the problem and get the best you can afford, knowing it's really not good enough. A good example would be buying the best VHS machine back in 1986. Fun at the time, maybe not an optimum strategy, but sometimes you gotta do it. Getting control of that emotional set called satisfaction-- a tough job, tougher than getting control of a diaphragm.
Former? Bikes and cameras aren't something you can easily quit. Oh, you might stop shopping or reading about them, but deep inside, the lust is still there. I have modded my old Gary Fisher MTB to be a SS city bike and I just love it, but then I go out in the garage and I see the Soul Cycles Hooligan frame and the desire to build it up as a uber fast SS XC MTB with a Fox fork, King headset, and the latest and greatest Avid hydraulic brakes is right back again. Fortunately, the indecision on what color to anodize the frame has kept me from actually ordering $2K worth of parts to finish the bike. But then I browse Surly, Salsa, or Soma's web sites and lust for a steel roadie frame and a cargo bike to round out the heard.
Now I've got the camera bug again, but more specific, I'm really jones'ing for a simple 645 or 120 medium format camera and developing the film myself to scan into digital.
Then there is the worst infection of all... Canoes, kayaks, and sailboats. Planning to build a small single kayak with my 12yo daughter and a larger double with room for my 5yo this summer, but then that will lead to the desire to build two trekker canoes and a wooden sailboat or two. Then that leads to the need to trailer these boats, so that's a custom outdoor activities trailer and more roof rack accessories. And we'll probably need a bike or two when we're out camping.
So, I'm glad I have my headphone addiction under control and my system plan finalized and sorted... 'cause I have a lot of equipment I need to buy to build everything else!
