[richard51]

I prefer to introduce my methods with stones and crystals, little by little, i put stones glued by blutak or tape,or loose without any glue, on ALL LINKS, interconnect, pieces of gear, and all the electrical grid in and out the house.... It is not useful to put the photos now and i dont have any.... No need for a photo to put some stones in any location, the only useful information is what kind of stones or crystals to put there to begins first.....But i will give some photos at some point when i will list the useful stones or crystals to try....

For the moment buying a bag of ordinary river peebles- many-colored stones (like the NATURAL one some put in an aquarium), placing it on the E.C.P. is the first thing to do, after that listening the negative or positive result; either this will cause positive change,a clarification if your system is already slightly warm,or dark; or either that will impact slightly negatively in the timbre or compress the sound... In all 2 cases you will verify the potency of placing a unique bag of stones at a central placement... To go further implicate to buy 2 or 3 other kind of stones that would be complementary to one another for exactly tweaking your sound...Nobody will do exactly the same placement, with exactly the same stones;not one audio system is identical, and your ears will be your master ...

I get where you are coming from but I would not get too caught up in pricing. I would say it is only a few out of every hundred but a few of us have made it to 5 figures pretty unscathed gear wise and a few more that have taken it another direction and diy'd themselves a killer five figured setup. Do you have any photo's of what you did?

 

[richard51]

To adress the DAC question.... I come from the beresford Bushmaster sigma delta dac, a good one for a low cost.... I choose to buy a NOS dac(non oversampling) the description is in my signature at the end of the post... For the regular price on EBAY , between 100 or 200 dollars,(i bought it at a so low price my face will blush if i say the number) this 16 bits ONLY dac is so good in my treated system, than ANY upgrade seems to me foolishness,details,dynamics,holographic, but more the NATURALNESS of the sound is what i wanted.... But remember this dac will not sound at all like mine in your system, because my system is fully treated with mechanical vibration controls, mostly sorbothane and other materials everywhere, and stones and crystals to lowering the noise floor... It takes me 1 year to experimnent and install all that, not too costly, several hundred of dollars for sure... But the upgrading is so astounding that i decide to begin few weeks ago this thread to show some hope to people who dream about High end products and cannot afford them,like i was some years ago... I dont say that High End products can be replicate by few stones +sorb., i only say when treated completely, i turn my back on hype and listen to music that is mine for the first time in my life without dreaming frustratelingly about new hype gear, mostly and completely out of my reach...

The nos dac without sampling and sampling dacs are 2 different kind of dac, and you must read about that;me i prefer to all few sampling dacs that i owned in the past the NOS french dac i had now by a margin too great to be question now...It is impossible for me to upgrade my system now, this system cost me 1000 bucks... Upgrading it, not a sidegrade, a real upgrade will cost me in the 6000 dollars at least if i dont make mistakes in buying, and for the dac i am not sure if 1000 dollars would not be only a sidegrade and a real upgrade,the french dac is without fault IN MY SYSTEM tweaked, and for the headphone AKG K 340, i am not sure either if i will love most any headphone there is to buy around 1000 dollars... The 4000 other bucks are for the amplifier and speakers, My Sansui and Mission Cyrus speakers cannot be upgrade for less... But my system tweaked completely against mechanical vibration, against EMI and lowering the noise floor with stones, is so good that there is no comparison between the same gear nude and dressed... End of story...

First thing is for sure the choice of the elements of a basic amp, dac, speakers, cans etc for that each one of us has different needs and i cannot impose anything ,only suggest some choice of mine to a few of us...Like the dac i suggest for people who will be happy with a 16 bits only dac...
But for the methods to treated your system i can suggest very simple and effective means.... But the ultimate results is not there after few days, you must experiment with your ears, what stones to buy ,where to put them first,etc

 

[richard51]

I agree with you. Although I`m not sure if my ears are "audiophile" enough For my music iPhone should be good enough, I care mostly about acoustics and amplification. Never had a chance to listen to $1000+ DAC with my own setup, so I can`t say if high-end DAC is a reasonable upgrade or not.

I think that buying a good dac does not need to be costly at all...And your ears like all ears if you love music are "audiophile" golden ears,my wife hate my obsession and when listening to my speakers says reluctantly that this is good... And she is not audiophile at all...my best regards to you

 

[Ragnar-BY]

I prefer to introduce my methods with stones and crystals, little by little, i put stones glued by blutak or tape,or loose without any glue, on ALL LINKS, interconnect, pieces of gear, and all the electrical grid in and out the house.... It is not useful to put the photos now and i dont have any.... No need for a photo to put some stones in any location, the only useful information is what kind of stones or crystals to put there to begins first.....But i will give some photos at some point when i will list the useful stones or crystals to try....

Excuse me, English is not my first language. You are actually using stones (I mean real stones, like those you can find in the river?) to increase sound quality? Or that was some kind of euphemism which I did not understand?

 

[richard51]

I give some details all along this thread, if you read it, stones like : river ordinary stones or pebbles, for beginning, but mostly varieties of quartz, black rough tourmaline stones(cheapest tourmaline), madagascar banded agate,shungite( difficult to place and use it rightly at first, the shungite is a RUSSIAN stone very potent audiowisely by the way but not the one to try first,also relatively costlier compared to the other stones ) lava beads,jasper of kambaba (must be placed with complementary stones), amethysts, for the most important one and some others.... If you read my posts i explain how the audio system is constituted mainly by an electrical grid with a noise floor that we must lowered with stones to upgrade all audio component to their optimal sound...Low cost, astounding effects...If you can listen the decay of cymbals, and if you can hear a depth imaging holographic in your speakers or headphones, if all glare or veil is lifted, if there is no more compression, your system is audiophile,perhaps audiophile for the poor, but audiophile nevertheless...It is what i have now...I listen music now instead of dreaming to buy 100,000 bucks amplifier and smile,and want to give back to this community what i had taken for the last 7 years here, this is the only reason for this helping thread, at the risk of being ridiculed...
...

At the end buying a 1000 bucks power station is perhaps a better idea,i dont know, certainly a simpler one... But i dont had this kind of money, and a 1000 bucks power station for a 100 bucks used vintage Sansui amplifier,a 100 bucks used speakers was without any sex-appeal to my wallet and brain...The results is so good now i dont give a damn for high end power station, dont need it at all now...Remember that controlling vibrations is also the utmost importance, i use sorbothane for that+cork+bamboo plate+granite plate+quartz ... And i use sorbothane in my speakers, and headphones also with some stones...

Excuse me, English is not my first language. You are actually using stones (I mean real stones, like those you can find in the river?) to increase sound quality? Or that was some kind of euphemism which I did not understand?

 

[richard51]

I must add that it is way more fun to experiment than buying right out of the box ready solution... After that the smile is not exactly the same...Plus if i win millions at the lottery, probably with my new 100,000 bucks new system, i would use also vibration mechanical control means, like the one i use now; and also i would treat the electrical grid of my house with stones and crystals also anyway....

 

[Ragnar-BY]

I give some details all alonng this thread, if you read it, stones like : river ordinary stones or pebbles, for beginning, but mostly varieties of quartz, tourmaline, madagascar agate,shungite( difficult to use rightly at first ) lava beads,jasper of kambaba, amethysts, for the most important one and some others.... If you read my posts i explain how the audio system is constituted mainly by an electrical grid with a noise floor that we must lowered with stones to upgrade all audio component to their optimal sound...Low cost, astounding effects...

Honestly speaking, I did not read it completely. Just took a quick look through suggestions. I will definitely return to the beginning and read about your system. I am an objectivist, and chances that I would be doing anything with stones are close to zero. But still it`s interesting to read about. I think it does not really matter if stones are actually changing sound or not. If you hear the difference and enjoy it - it worth doing.

As for cheap and expensive DACs. I`m completely sure that price by itself means nothing. Sometimes expensive stuff is just an absurdly priced garbage. Although it`s hard to argue that good gear is usually expensive just because it takes more skilled engineers, more expensive components and better quality control. Well-picked budget components are great and could make a better system than randomly chosen hi-end gear, but well-picked hi-end gear would easily beat any budget system.

 

[richard51]

Honestly speaking, I did not read it completely. Just took a quick look through suggestions. I will definitely return to the beginning and read about your system. I am an objectivist, and chances that I would be doing anything with stones are close to zero. But still it`s interesting to read about. I think it does not really matter if stones are actually changing sound or not. If you hear the difference and enjoy it - it worth doing.

As for cheap and expensive DACs. I`m completely sure that price by itself means nothing. Sometimes expensive stuff is just an absurdly priced garbage. Although it`s hard to argue that good gear is usually expensive just because it takes more skilled engineers, more expensive components and better quality control. Well-picked budget components are great and could make a better system than randomly chosen hi-end gear, but well-picked hi-end gear would easily beat any budget system.

You are a wise guy indeed, thanks for your participation....

I am neither subjectivist nor objectivist, the division make not much sense for me... (my brain is an objectivist fellow,my ear are irreductible subjectivist one,but the 2 are inseparables and united like siameese twins and my eyes are very bad referee between these 2) ...Placing ordinary stones on top of the central electrical panel take one second to implement, noting the + or - changes, takes another second: 2 seconds of time to act does not necessitate any justification by a philosophical position or opinion... I will call that,one of the simplest,swiftest experiment in audio,though one level of complexity above displacing speakers .... For example displacing speakers hardly necessitate a philosophical option before implementing it...


I am perfectly with you about your remarks on pricing....Especially of dac...Your last remark in your first paragraph are testimony of an understanding spirit, my best regards to you....

 

[336881]

I prefer to introduce my methods with stones and crystals, little by little, i put stones glued by blutak or tape,or loose without any glue, on ALL LINKS, interconnect, pieces of gear, and all the electrical grid in and out the house.... It is not useful to put the photos now and i dont have any.... No need for a photo to put some stones in any location, the only useful information is what kind of stones or crystals to put there to begins first.....But i will give some photos at some point when i will list the useful stones or crystals to try....

For the moment buying a bag of ordinary river peebles- many-colored stones (like the NATURAL one some put in an aquarium), placing it on the E.C.P. is the first thing to do, after that listening the negative or positive result; either this will cause positive change,a clarification if your system is already slightly warm,or dark; or either that will impact slightly negatively in the timbre or compress the sound... In all 2 cases you will verify the potency of placing a unique bag of stones at a central placement... To go further implicate to buy 2 or 3 other kind of stones that would be complementary to one another for exactly tweaking your sound...Nobody will do exactly the same placement, with exactly the same stones;not one audio system is identical, and your ears will be your master ...

Not to be rude but this is summit-fi and well most of us are vein. We want something that not only sounds exceptional but has a exceptional build quality and yes looks count to some degree. I know without any photos I get the idea that what you are doing looks funky to say the least. For all I know you made it look beautiful but without photos...

I think you will find more like minded individuals with a thread like this tweaks category of this website with a title like "Who is using stones to augment their setup?"

Schiit kind of also beat u to the punch a bit with the Loki as far as budget oriented tweaks. I have put it up against a 10 times more expensive Sony se-p900 and while I'm keeping the Sony the Loki punches well above its price of only $150.

 

[richard51]

Not to be rude but this is summit-fi and well most of us are vein. We want something that not only sounds exceptional but has a exceptional build quality and yes looks count to some degree. I know without any photos I get the idea that what you are doing looks funky to say the least. For all I know you made it look beautiful but without photos...

I think you will find more like minded individuals with a thread like this tweaks category of this website with a title like "Who is using stones to augment their setup?"

Schiit kind of also beat u to the punch a bit with the Loki as far as budget oriented tweaks. I have put it up against a 10 times more expensive Sony se-p900 and while I'm keeping the Sony the Loki punches well above its price of only $150.

For sure my wife dont see my system hardly as good looking.... But the experiment with the electrical grid is not in the room,but in the basement or at the exterior of the house, looks has no importance there... Thats for the "funky look" ... You are right about that, a beautiful Sansui amplifier with some kind of rocks on top looks "funky to say the least"... But now we all must choose what we look for in the end... Look or sound... And if you are a more talented designer than me you must be able to place them artfully...

Think about it, NOW i never look for a pricey upgrade with envy, thats testimony,nevermind the look, to my audio joy....Not by any means the best system,but one of the least worst there is indeed... Now for the comparison review of product ,it is more important to me to treat the system before any review making, the proof is simple: for example any negative review remarks about the dac i have now concerned my nude dac and i acknowledged them also with the reviewer at the time of first listening; but these remarks does not concern my dac at his optimal level at all; the same dac treated now, in a treated electrical environment, in a damped system, sound absolutely not like the nude one.... The conclusion for me is that ALL links elements has a sound INTERLINKED with the others and in a specific environment and location... Then i does not give as much credit to any review now like the time i begins in this hobby, the reason is simple, the synergy between elements, the isolation, damping,treatment methods,room treatment,headphone treatment, are indispensable for a pieces of gear to sound at his optimal best....

 

[richard51]

I think you will find more like minded individuals with a thread like this tweaks category of this website with a title like "Who is using stones to augment their setup?"

.

The subject of this thread is not only my methods to improve the sound indeed but also suggestions of products, and discussion and methods of others also....It is not a tweak thread first, but it is not a suggestion thread only neither, it is a thinking thread first and foremost, a beginners thread helper first,the name of the thread says it all, with many suggestions about the possibility of an audio experience at low costs....I think that buying some good products is a first, but treatment methods in my experience are second to none for upgrading maturely to an upper level and after and only after that, continue to buy perhaps but maturely...

99% of people are upgrading desesperately because they dont know how to improve significantly their experience without throwing big money sometimes, despite the fact that some of their system defects can be sometimes corrected at low cost, like mine defects has been corrected almost totally without buying new gear ....I was exactly like that for many years, that change when i decide to take that in my own hand and thinking,realizing that i will never be able to bought costly perfect product ready to use, with a stamped audiophile bliss guarenteed...

I speak what i have to speak about to begin the thread first,and good looks or not, i had at least something new to say, i said it partly and if you have your suggestions methods with "good look" all will be interested in,me included...And if placing some stones on the basement look weird for you i understand, but i dont think to go anywhere else for the moment because of that ...I dont look here to find" like minded individuals",or the thread of people with oddly looking system, but open spirits to discuss with and learn, and given back some of the simple lessons i had learned myself to few people that all this dicussions will help, like you are, no?

I hope more experienced audio people will offers their help also...I will go in the background myself at the right moment, but the necessity of this thread to help newcomers against urging upgrading fits is here to endure i hope, with or without myself, with people of good faith....A thread like that some years ago would have spare me time and money.... I hope to spare some of this spending fate to others...

 

[SilverEars]

What are the benefits of NOS DACs? Non-over sampling? Is there are good reasoning behind it? Same for Schiit's multibit.

 

[richard51]

What are the benefits of NOS DACs? Non-over sampling? Is there are good reasoning behind it? Same for Schiit's multibit.

I know nothing about dac, but i read about nos, i only had sampling sigma delta dac before buying a NOS one, and one of the least costly that exist,a french minimalistic design, and frankly (except for the limitation of 16 bits lecture only but almost all my files are loseless 16 bits) this nos dac crush all the others i have deal with : bereford bushmaster is the last....The sound is simply lifelike,3-d, not with a false impression of details that often come with brightier sound....You must read about the differences, i am not qualified technically.... Perhaps somebody will give more to you here...

Sometimes Os dac are described as more airier and less muddy, this is partly true but this fact result from the generalized noise floor of the audio system,and my NOs dac are more sensible to this noise impediment.... In the beginning my NOS dac had a nice sound, but less detailed and muddier than some OS dac; but in my cleanier system now, the Nos dac is no more muddier, and i had more details than i ever had....The problem with audio system is often less each and every one of the audio links "per se" than the noise problem that is pervasive and plague each links of the system...That i know by experience, for explanation about Dac i hope someone qualified will give it to you...

Any addition of electronic components introduce noise in the flow, the minimalistic general design of this french battery dac,apart from his NOS design in itself, introduce less noise, this is what i think and i drive his internal battery with an external lithium battery, that gives to it more isolation with no power supply ... And my experience is all the links in any system has some problems to express their better working potential because of a high floor noise....This problem is so great that it mask the qualities of what we already have that is often very good... There exist better Nos dac than my Starting Point System Nos tda 1543 dac, but at very high price,then i will never upgrade it...Best regards to you...

 

[richard51]

i discover this remark about noise floor written by one of the most important designer of dac Rob Watts :

« What does noise floor modulation sound like?

Noise floor modulation is extremely important subjectively - you perceive the slightest amount as a brightness or hardness to the sound. When it gets bad, you hear glare or grain in the treble.

Less noise floor modulation, smoother sound quality. The curious thing about this is that the brain is very sensitive to it, so you can easily hear it. Problem is that many listeners hear the brightness as more detail resolution, and so think it sounds better - but that's another story.»

the remark comes from somewhere in this thread :

(a difficult but interesting read, i wish i had money to buy the Chord Dave,but i am no more sad because of what i enjoy now in my cleaned system)

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/watts-up.800264/page-32#post-13884493

 

[Deftone]

What are these magic pebbles supposed to do exactly?

Edit: never mind just found out.