My background as a physician and researcher has provided a unique perspective on how hi-end audio products are evaluated.

In science double blinded, randomized research trials are the gold standard for assessing problems and determining if differences exist between two groups of interest. Only under these conditions can one discern whether a drug, treatment protocol, or new surgical technique is truly better than what is currently available. The world of hi-fi obviously is very different. Judging the "best performing" audio component or cable is usually a completely subjective matter.

Moreover, many audiophiles don’t even rely on their own ears when judging new components. Instead, they rely on the subjective findings of reviewers.

Early on, our company sought more objective and scientific ways to evaluate sonic dif-ferences when testing cables. Our first solution was to build the HGA "R.O.A.D." (Re-mote Objective Auditioning Device) which is an extremely high quality relay system that allows for remote switching between multiple cables being auditioned. This device allows for instant comparison between products as well as the ability to blind the listener to which cable is being auditioned. A current experiment that builds upon the R.O.A.D project provides computer-controlled randomized switching between cables as well as a means to record the listeners’ subjective assessment. The listener is given a series of opportunities to decide whether switching inputs produced an improvement in the sound, worsening of sound, or no change at all. This data can than be analyzed to determine whether cable "A" or cable "B" is statistically better sounding -- at least to the listener participating in the experiment. This provides both blinding and randomization to the testing scenario.

While auditioning cables is the fun part of product development, at HGA a significant amount of bench research also takes place. Our company is fortunate to have a registered electrical engineer on staff to assist in measuring the electrical performance of our cables as well as to continually improve product design.

In 1998 Homegrown Audio Co (HGA) was started with the notion that audiophiles worldwide desired a better source for top performing audio products at down to earth prices. Our doors opened with a single cable design and enough high quality Teflon insulated silver wire to serve the needs of a growing DIY audio community.

From the beginning we knew the only way to produce the highest quality products was to "grow" them ourselves! While our competitors bought high cost ads, Homegrown invested in the best wire manufacturing equipment money could buy. Today, our multiple industrial braiding ma-chines allow us to produce essentially any wire and cable geometry imaginable -- all in house and under the watchful eye of our well trained staff.

As our company has grown so has its diversity. Indeed, HGA benefits from the talents and con-tributions of numerous professionals with greatly varied experience. This includes individuals with backgrounds in physics, human physiology, music, and more than thirty years of experience in electrical engineering. Most importantly, we’re all music lovers at heart who have never swayed from the vision of growing a great company dedicated to providing the highest quality audio products at a fair price.

As a practicing physician and life-long audio enthusiast, I believe I brought a unique perspective to the audio industry. I founded Homegrown Audio Company (HGA) in 1998 while completing my medical training. It was during this period that I embraced the challenge of pursuing another lifelong dream -- starting an audio business. HGA started with a single winning cable design and the goal to offer the world’s finest audio cables and supplies. The response from the audio community was overwhelming. As HGA has matured over the years, my role now focuses on strategic planning and overseeing new product development.

In addition to my work at HGA, I maintain a clinical practice in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and I have recently set up a new multi-physician practice.

In my opinion, there are three major types of businesses involved in the cable industry:

1.) hobbyists that have started small-time businesses: With the boom of internet shopping, home-based cable companies have sprung up all over the place. Widely available components and the potential for easy internet sales make the proposition of starting such a business deceptively simple. Unfortunately, fierce competition has made the success of these businesses very difficult. There are simply too many of them.

2.)"boutique" firms that target the high end: These are generally medium sized businesses that specialize in high-end cables. I be-lieve this is where the most interesting and best performing products are currently to be found. Relatively low sales volumes coupled with large advertising and development budgets generally result in expensive products.

3.) the "big players": There are a few very large companies that seem to offer cables that fit every possible application and budget. Their products frequently are sold in department stores. While certainly prevalent in the marketplace, these large companies are generally quite far removed from the hi-fi world. Rarely are their products considered "reference level" or competitive with best in class products.

I believe HGA is a hybrid of all three models. While our production capacity and sales volume have grown, we still focus on maintaining a small business attitude and on producing the best cable available regardless of price.

Although many high end cables are comprised of exotic and expensive materials, these added manufacturing costs only partly account for the large price tags applied to the products. High end audio is a small niche market. Sales volumes, even for excellent products, generally are very small.

The total revenue from sales must cover not only manufacturing costs, but also advertising expenses, overhead, and all the other requirements necessary to grow a business. These issues together result in products easily selling for 500% or more above manufacturing cost. While this is the most honest "business" explanation I can give for the high price of cables, there is also the important issue of consumer expectations. Audiophiles expect to pay high prices for top performing products. Budget products, no matter how well they perform, are viewed with a degree of suspicion. In other words, "if it costs this much it must be good". Because of this perception, there is actually an additional incentive for manufacturers to price products high.

Pseudo-science as well as many outright false claims plague the cable industry. I think this is unfortunate because in many instances, the "right" cables make a tremendous difference in the overall performance of a system. The credibility of the cable industry has been called into question -- and this is for good reason.

I would like to share a few particular issues that I frequently encounter in my involvement in the cable industry.

Not a day goes by that we don’t receive customer emails inquiring about the purity of the wire we sell. Since day one, the stock answer in our office has been "we sell 99.99% pure silver wire insulated in Teflon insulation". This is the truth and we have the paperwork to back it up. The rage now, of course, is 7-nines, 8-nines, or even higher quoted purity. The problem with this is that insulated wires of this purity simply are not available. Not available anywhere, not available at any price. Indeed, over the years we have had several companies buy wire from us and relabel it with a purity many times higher than what we sold them! This is simple fraud, and it is an embarrassingly common problem in hi-fi cable marketing. Akin to the problem of exaggerated cable purity is the issue of inaccurate electrical specifications provided by some companies. Many customers live and die by these measurements. I’m sad to say that there are several companies willing to "adjust" numbers to make their products more appealing. Another big controversy is the issue of metallurgy

Despite what you read in many marketing materials, the choice of conductors used to build the cable is far from the only factor that affects performance. Silver is an easy choice as it’s the most conductive metal available, regardless of cost. While this may be true, it takes much more than high quality parts to design a top performing cable. Cable geometry, in particular, has a tremendous influence in how a cable performs. While we are a company that specializes in silver cables, I would certainly agree that the performance of a well designed copper cable outperforms a poorly designed silver cable. The key is combining the best parts with a winning design results in something very special.

I believe the future is bright for HGA. Our company has been blessed with year upon year growth despite fluctuating economies and a growing number of competitors. I be-lieve that we have done a good job of developing a reputation of value and business in-tegrity with our customer base which the strengthens the position of any business. Change is certainly inevitable. With increased emphasis on multi-channel and home theater systems, there will be a need for companies like HGA to constantly evolve with the changing needs of their customers.