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HomeGrown Audio Impressions

By now, I think enough of us have had the time to gauge the performance of this cable to be able to offer concrete opinions. I am curious as to the impressions of others on this cable. In my system(tubes and silk dome tweeters), I am shielded from the nasty things a silver cable can engender in some systems. They would be brightness, harshness, and irritating distortion. The negatives I have found with this unshielded cable are a significant raising of the noise floor(which you forget about when you start to play music), and a big dose of RFI when using the cable on my tuner. RFI stoppers sent to me by Eldragon(thanks so much) have done a great job cleaning things up. Otherwise, I cannot knock the cable on any level. In fact, I am able to hear farther into the music than with any copper cable I have ever tried. The sound is full, extended, and detailed. Bass response is excellent. I A/B the cable against Coincident. The Coincident has the advantage of not having RFI problems. But the HomeGrown lets me hear things the Coincident doesn't pass through. The fact that this cable is only $70 makes me think it has to be the best kept secret in wire. Better performance than Kimber KCAG, for less than the price of PBJ. Of course, it will not work for everyone. But, I am wondering how everyone else is perceiving this product. Please share with us your opinions of performance in your systems. I cannot say it is the best, because I am now using a cable that has redefined what I have gotten from wire. Just burning it in on my tuner now. Will switch to the CD player over the holiday. If performance transfers, this will be the best cable, BY FAR, I have ever used. Will report then. Thanks to everyone for your impressions.
trelja
alexc's avatar
alexc
265 posts
 
Trelja-OK, I'll bite. What are the silver Lace IC's like? Had not heard about these yet...
gallaine
114 posts
 
I bought a pair of the ferrite clamps from Radio Shack a week ago. It wasn't a stunning improvement. BTW, the PS Audio P300 Power Plant is impressive. The music is more transparent and palpable. Top-end is better integrated - but, unfortunately the sibilance problem with female voice I have been having with the Super Silvers was not improved. Maybe I'll give the Silver Lace a try; compared to their competition the price isn't all that high...
kbuzz
214 posts
 
Can someone reccomend a cost effective RFI stopper for my super silver ics. The audioquest set is 60 bucks...more than the cost of the ics... What is the cost of the RAdio shack ferrite clamps? Are there any other cost effective alternatives between the RS and Audioquest?
trelja OP
3,223 posts
 
I feel the need to clarify my position on RFI blockers. I see they are becoming an item on their own. The RFI I was experiencing was a local radio station coming through my system when the volume of my amp(only when the tuner was selected) was turned all the way down. As soon as music started coming through, this noise was no longer perceptible AT ALL. Perhaps I was a bit too anal about this whole thing. My integrated tube amp has a passive preamp section. It is VERY quiet. I am used to noise with other tube pre/power amps, this one does not have it. When I installed the RFI blockers, the radio station no longer came through, and everything was seemingly back to normal. In no way did the RFI blockers affect(good or bad) the sound of the system when playing music. If you think they will improve a cable, I have no evidence of such. I know Antony Michaelson, owner of Musical Fidelity, includes them integrally on his NuVista cable line(and they look snazzy). He feels the need to banish RFI that important. I did not purchase these. They were given to me by our great compatriot here on Audion, Eldragon. They should be VERY cheap, as there is nothing to them(but we know what things are like in audio). My father also gave me a magnet(ferrite?) in the shape of a ring that had the same effect(the RFI blockers are also magnetic). Only the magnet doesn't open and close, it just slips over the wire. One could just go buy some ferrite magnets(REALLY cheap)... I would say that a person would only need RFI blockers should they be experiencing excessive RFI(in any cable). Otherwise, why not forego them? Thank you all for letting me air my opinions.
dekay's avatar
dekay
5,564 posts
 
Does anyone know if a small amount of RFI would sound like a HF hiss at higher volumes (when music is not playing), I do not hear a radio station? I experience this with my Homegrown Super Silver IC's, but have dead silence at the same volume when I am running my Harmonic Technology Truthlink IC's. I do not ever listen at this higher volume by the way. I just noticed it when I was troubleshooting a defective power amp that I tried in my system.
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