home made speaker cable vs. the big boys

Alexc, they maybe MORE forward than AudioQuest cables. Both are solid core construction, with smaller diameter conductors, to minimize "skin effect". AudioQuest cables, to me, are dead in the middle cables. MIT(not good with tubes, IMO), on the easy side, Kimber and WireWorld on the forward side. HomeGrown do not exhibit the harshness of Kimber. You should give the cables a few weeks of listening. You may wake up one day next month and say, "Wow! These cables are great. Everything is there". Actually, your AQ are quite good. To me, as good as most of the exotic stuff. Just doesn't have the "newness" of the new megabuck cables. By the way, what type of tubes do you have in your power amps? You may be able to smooth things out via pre and/or power amp tubes.

I've made Homegrown Audio solid silver cables from their $39.00 kit. Used high content silver solder and, except for some slight lack of bass in a direct comparison to AQ Quartz, they were just as good if not better through the rest of the range. I just turned up the subwoofers a bit and compensated. They are a great bargain. Had them for over two months so I have a good feel for what they can do. The kits even come braided now. Their burn in wasn't really that long - I think they peaked after about 20 hours or so. I used Atma-Sphere MP1 and Golden Tube SEP1 preamps with Atma-Sphere MA2 MKII rev 2 monoblocks. Both CD and vinyl comparisons. I also tried them on my turntable with less success. During a conversation with Ralph Karsten of Atma-Sphere I asked him what the factory uses for their "reference" speaker wire. Answer was Belden copper microphone wire. The reason the cable companies get away with legal robbery is because YOU (meaning all of us in this hobby me included) let them get away with it. Do any of us really think that they would continue to try to traffic, er market, $1K+ interconnects or $10K+ speaker wires if nobody would buy them - especially when they literally cost pennies on the dollar to produce at the high volume levels they turn out? Their marketing and advertising budgets are enormous and they drive the amrket. You can get pure silver three braided strand cable for $25/meter right now from Thailand. The company's only caveat is that they don't recommend lengths over 5 meters. Just terminate and have at it. And they're making a profit. Every cable has some effect - its own sonic signature (or lack thereof?). But every totally blind test done (very few people will ever take part in these type of tests, especially if they are in the industry) yields surprising results. Yes, you can hear subtle differences between speaker cables or interconnects, but the "high priced spread" doesn't necessarily come out on top. I would not bet against a really good home made interconnect or speaker wire. You'll NEVER hear hundreds or even THOUSANDS of dollars of difference and just as often as not you will think more in terms of relative equivalency while noting that some cables have cleaner treble while others offer more bass extension. Once you've been burned in one of these comparisons you'll know why the "pros" at the magazines never take part in them. Besides the loss in advertising revenue..............

No need, unless you want to DIY. I highly recommend Maplesahdes cables. Now available from www.audiotweakers.com The Double Helix Speaker Cable is only $280/8ft pr. Their interconnects $65& $240.00 GIant Killers, but tweaky.

Trelja - My amps are Aronov 9100 with the stock 6550 tubes. The preamp is a BAT VK5i upgraded to SE with the BAT ""Super Tubes"".

Is the sound improved since last week? You may also look into KT88 tubes, when that time comes up. If you are unhappy after one month, maybe you should re-insert the AQ to make sure it is as good as you remember it. Good luck.