Huge value for the Dollar

none

I have been using the HG Audio "Super Silvers" (1.5 meter) through most of my system. I have one piece of Kimber Silver Streak ($270) and these are all silver. Silver Straek at that cost is only one leg Silver. Outstanding value !! Smooth but detailed, never bright. Very nice natural midrange and smooth highs. They can add emotion to the music. I just won the pair of NEW "'Silver Lace" given away by Home Grown Audio. These are already doing some nice things in between the CAL Icon and my Pre but not broken in yet.
These are the best kept secret in Audio today. They show the rip off factor in most other cables pricing. Thik about it, this stuff is 5/9s Silver.

My System:
Audible Illusions M3
Lehman Black Cube Pre
Zen SV83 Select SET Monos
Coincident Triumph Grand Sig's
HSU SW10v Sub w/250w Amp
CAL Icon MKII HDCD BOSS
Magnum Dyna FT101A
AR ES1 Table W Rega RB300 rewired
AT OC9 Cartridge
Brick Wall Line filter into a dedicated 20 Amp line Hopital Grade Receptacle

Similar Products Used:

Kimber PBJ, KCAG, Silver Streak

The Silver Lace is truly a reference standard

None for the Silver Lace, might require shielding in some applications

SUBJECT: Evaluation of the SS4, 4 strand Super Silver and Silver Lace interconnect cables

After many months of listening I found that the SS4 (4 individual 22 AWG silver conductors machine braided) cable is somewhat incompatible with my Yamaha CX-2 preamp. The cable unmasked the inherit weakness of the CX-2 by "getting out of the way" and passing along the marginally harsh female vocal transients originating from the preamp. I then switched back to my older Yamaha C-4 preamp.

The older C-4 sounds very smooth and detailed with the upper end somewhat attenuated and rolled off. This worked out much better and I did a comparison between the SS4 and Audioquest Opal interconnects. The SS4 produces deeper bass and more extended highs than the Opal. The SS4 is definitely "warmer" (mid-bass) than the Opal. Still the SS4 is not without some "faults" and has its own sonic personality. The SS4 is a very transparent and "fast" cable, perhaps too fast, and having a slightly unbalanced frequency response. I think the lower end and vocal transients are still a little too pronounced and the very upper end is perhaps too subdued. One thing for sure, the SS4 cable definitely sounds more "alive" than the copper Opal. Next I switched over to the newer Silver Lace cable.

Right "out of the box" before being broken in, the Silver Lace cable sounded quite impressive. I have it connected between my older Yamaha C-4 preamp and some relatively new Marantz MA700 mono-block amps. None of the bass "resonance" is present as was the case with the SS4. The Silver Lace is a fabulous, detailed, and smooth sounding cable devoid of any harshness. This cable excels in timing, having very, very good leading edge response, without being fatiguing, easy on the ears.

The sound in my system is more affected by the Pre to Amp interconnect in comparison to either the tuner or CD cable. All in all the Silver Lace is an incredible cable and Kevin Walsh is an excellent person to do business with. He has always responded timely and honestly to my emails. I highly recommend buying the products from Homegrown Audio. Kevin gave me a special deal on the Silver Lace!!

Note: I did put 1/4" diameter black polyester braiding over the SS4 cables and Alpha 2172 tubular braided shielding over just the 2.0 meter SS4. The 2.0 meter Silver Lace just has polyester braiding added for enhanced abrasion resistance. Also, for some preamp to amp connections, especially around video equipment, the Silver Lace cable may require some shielding. This can be done by retrofitting the cable with braided shielding mentioned above and grounding the shield at only one end (simply put the braided shielding over the existing cable).

List of Equipment Used:

Yamaha CX-2 and older Yamaha C-4 preamp (with all new aluminum NP and P capacitors)
Marantz MA700 mono amplifiers
Marantz CD-17 mkII CD player
JBL L166, 23 year old speakers with new LF and midrange drivers (similar to older L112 and currently available 4412A models)
Homgrown Audio SS4 4-strand Super Silver 1.0 meter interconnect between CD (C-7 tuner also) and Preamp
Audio Truth (Quest) Opal, 2 meter interconnect from pre-to-amp (used for comparison)
Straight Wire Pro Special speaker wire (similar to Encore II speaker cable)

Similar Products Used:

Audioquest Opal, coral, turqouis

Great

NoNe

you are just stupid if you do not use this cable. Plain Stupid. Just a stupid dumb rock. I mean really stupid.

Similar Products Used:

everything

ABSOLUTE crystal clear picture of what is on the recording. Very good bass response. Excellent imaging. The BEST value in cable today.

Silver is system dependent, may not be suited for use in every system. May be prone to RFI in some systems.

If your system features tube amplification and/or soft dome tweeters, BUY THIS CABLE!!!

SUMMARY:
It can not be denied that this product is the best value in cable in the audio world. Possibly ever. To sum it up, this $70 cable is like buying an improved version of Kimber KCAG($440/m), for LESS than the price of Kimber PBJ($79/m). The only differences between this and the silver Kimber product are the WBT RCA plugs on the Kimber, and this cable features solid core wire, rather than stranded. Solid core wire eliminates skin effect, and the proof is that the HomeGrown Audio cable is not as harsh or metallic sounding as the Kimber Kable line.

CONSTRUCTION:
This product consists of a braid of 3 - 22 gauge solid core, teflon insulated, 99.999% pure silver wires. Braid is identical to that made famous by Kimber Kable. The connectors, while good, are not the best that can be obtained. But then hey, the price of the assembled cable is less than the cost of WBT RCA plugs themselves! The actual construction of the wire is first rate, up there with anything you can buy.

SOUND:
The best trait of this cable is the water white clarity of the music coming through. The essence of the recording is in no way colored, modified, or altered. The cable is capable of extracting every last bit of information from the music, as only silver is capable of. Speed of the music coming through seems as if it's just better, more correct than with copper cables. The system just lets go of the notes. Bass response is actually quite good, which is sure to be a pleasant surprise to many. Midrange and high frequencies are best when matched with tube amplification and/or speakers featuring soft dome tweeters. If the system is already bright, or prone to brightness, this may not be the best cable. Dynamics are commendable. The soundstage is very large, comparing favorably with some of the better(not best) products in that area. In the right system, this cable will offer the purity of tone and liquidity sought by many.

OVERALL RATING:
5 Stars

VALUE RATING:
They'd have to recalibrate the scale to fit it on this chart. It's THAT high.

Similar Products Used:

AlphaCore Goertz, AudioQuest(Jade, Turquoise, Ruby, Emerald, Lapis), Cardas, Kimber(PBJ, Hero, KCAG, KCTG), MIT, Monster, StraightWire, Tara, XLO

Very easy to assemble-all you need is a soldering iron
Sounds great even without an often touted "break-in"
Bass is deep,Mid-Range is superb as well as extended Highs
For $30.00 in kit form or $60.00 assembled for .5 meter is a STEAL!!!

Not very rugged-don't yank on it

I liked what i heard from the moment they were connected.
NO Harshness, everything sounded Natural!!!
If any area may be most noticeable it is in the midrange.
The voice of Mary Black from her CD "Babes in the Woods" was just perfect. These cables are super!!!
Comparing these to the Kimber Pbj's is tough--these are also very nice cables for the money.In my opinion, tube owners go with silver and SS owners go with copper. The Kimbers sound better on Apoggee speakers but not as tight and transparent as on my valve equipment.

Similar Products Used:

Kimber PBJ, Homemade Belden 89259, Monster Ref.2's

addendum to previous review

Right after I posted the follow up on Homegrown Audio's Super Silver cables yesterday morning UPS delivered my new (used) Harmonic Tech. Pro AC11 powercord. I replaced the stock cord on my CAL Icon MKII and (what else) began listening immediatley. I have gone through most of the cuts that I felt had some LF problems with the new interconnects and now do not have any complaints regarding their portrayal of the LF's (that is zero complaints). It seems that I have now gained another half octave (from the source) of useable bass and the interconnects produce it well. By improving the source the LF got better, much better (the previous lack of warmth was not the fault of the interconnects). Kick drums are also more beleivable and everthing else is just as it should be. There are many other areas that have improved with the addition of the PC, but as far as the Super Silver cables go, try them.

Similar Products Used:

addendum to previous review

Excellent, clarity, transparency, spatial characteristics

Low bass could be slightly better

I've been using the cables only a few days, and they haven't fully broken in, but I was so impressed with them for the money I thought I'd write anyway. They are very clean, open, transparent, and smooth with the typical silver cable sharp, leading edge transients. I think they sound every bit as good as the HT Pro Silway 2's but at a fraction of the price. I haven't heard the Kimber KCAG's which these are obviously patterned after, but my guess is there won't be much difference there either. I'm sure there are better cables, but at the price these things are pretty amazing. If you buy the kits (which cost less than a set of high-line connectors) the deal is even more amazing.

My system now is pretty basic and simple, but I've had some very good equipment and I've been listening for a lot of years: ARC, Aragon, Apogee, Magneplanar, etc

Current system: SOny X303 ES directly feeding Monarchy Audio SM-70 amp (which is another steal)MIT Music Hose cables and B&W CDM1-SE speakers.

Similar Products Used:

Kimber PBJ; Harmonic Tech Pro Silway, Truthlink; MIT 330;
various others

Cost

None

Unbelievable!!! Thats all I have to say. I purchased the DIY kit for 39.95 and built one set of these. They use high purity teflon coated silver just like most of your high buck IC's. Great connectors and high quality silver solder. when I inserted them in my system I heard more detail in the highs without glare or brightness. Midrange was sweeter and bass was about the same. I used to believe you had spend mega bucks on cables but these proved me wrong. I'm selling all my other cables and rewiring my whole system with these and spending the leftover money I have on new cd's or DVD's.

by the way, they also have a cavle called the Silver Solution that is a copy of the Kimber Silver Streak. The DIY kit is only 23.95. Once again Unbelievable!!!!

Similar Products Used:

Kimber KCAG, MIT 330, Nordost Solar Wind

Price, Warmth and Sweet Presentation, Very Transparent

Durability and Bass is a tad rolled off

Great cables for the money. To get a significant improvement you need to spend $300.00 plus. The kits
are a great low budget way experiment and see what
you think about them in your system.

Similar Products Used:

Tara Labs, Kimber and Transparent

expands the soundstage, precise imaging, excellent detail

bass not strong

I was very impressed with the imaging of these cables. The soundstage opened up beyond the width of the speakers. No compression at all. Imaging was precise, and previously unheard details revealed themselves.

However, on my system the rich bass just disappeared. That was disappointing because that bass is what makes music so rhythmically involving (especially with the Concertinos).

If you don't need the best quality bass, it's hard to see how you could go wrong with these for their price. Definitely worth a try (you get 30 days to try them).

Sonus Faber Concertinos
Velodyne VA-1012 II sub
NAD T750 receiver
Cambridge Aduio D500SE CD

Similar Products Used:

patch cord, Monster Cable Interlink 100, Straightwire Chorus