Homegrown Audio HGA


Has anyone tried any of their products, mainly top end i/c's and Speaker cables? I may consider a run of their SC 16 silver braided speaker cable, into ML Spires. Any Thoughts or experiences?
ps68

Showing 2 responses by mitch2

I am struggling a bit in evaluating and comparing the HGA speaker cables. I have a double run of SA-16 per side, which is the same as a double run of X-32. The X-32 stands for 32 wires per pair of speaker cables, or 16 per side, and is the same as the SC-16 DIY wire, except they have added a damping core in the middle of the X-32, which I believe may be cotton rope. Both are all silver wire in teflon. Mine are damped with microbearing steel per Starsound, and they are or "true" bi-wire cables - two separate runs of the 16 strand silver in teflon per side, or 13awg to both the MF/HF posts and the LF posts. They are indeed clear and also smooth sounding. Detail is very good, not great. Bass is controlled and also deep. These would tame "boomy" sounding systems. However, I have to agree with Tennis, they have the silver sound, which I can detect by listening in most cables. They do not "sizzle" in any way, but they do not quite carry the weight or body compared to my HT Pro 9 Reference cables. The Pro 9 Reference are more dynamic, with deeper and more impactful bass, and have more body to the notes and vocals. The HGA cables sound very good, and would make me happy if there were no comparisons. They would complement many systems. However, for my system and tastes, and for now, I am leaning toward the Pro 9 Reference, which are solid core PCOCC copper.
Ps68, I have 5 ft runs of HT Pro 9+ and HT Pro 9 Reference (2008). I have not been able to find out what was changed with the newest HT Pro 9 Reference SE (2009) - except of course that the name is too long :?)
I have tried using a double run with the Pro 9 Ref on top and the 9+ on the bottom, and also tried using that set-up with the negative connectors jumped to each other. Right now I am using a single run with the Pro 9 Ref to the bottom posts and jumpered with Luminous PCOCC wire to the top posts, and the sound is very good. The main difference is maybe just a touch less impact in the bass compared to the double run. I may try leaving the Ref on the bottom and the older Pro 9+ to the top MF/HF posts since I suspect the Pro 9 Ref may offer tighter bass than the older 9+.
Regarding HGA, they are not hyper-detailed, but clear and smooth for sure. They would likely control systems with boomy bass, and they are very coherent in the bass. I tried them doubled up on my LF posts and found an improvement in bass, so at least in my system, throwing more conductor area at the bass did improve things. I was considering making a double set with two runs to each bass post (10awg) and a single run to the MF/HF posts (13awg), but instead my next move may be to go with HT's magic cable line, which contain OCC copper as well as OCC silver solid core wires. My conclusions from a lot of listening are that I belive the OCC wire does make a positive difference compared to more standard forms of copper, and that I prefer individually insulated solid core wire to stranded wire.