Q & A with James Alvarado
James Alvarado didn’t set out to start an audio company. He just wanted his headphones to work without spending a fortune or waiting three weeks for a cable to ship. So he dusted off his soldering skills, made a few cables, and ended up launching one of the most beloved names in the DIY audio scene.
In this conversation, James walks us through the origin of Hart Audio Cables—from late-night builds in a Texas office to managing a growing team. We talk about what it means to build a business with purpose, how music always comes first, and why sometimes the best way forward is just figuring it out as you go.
Tom: Could you share a bit about your personal background and upbringing? Were you always interested in audio or tinkering with technology as a kid, and what childhood experiences or influences helped shape your passion for sound?
James: I think the first thing that got me going down the rabbit hole was borrowing my older sister’s cd collection and discman when I was a kid. That gave me a broad interest in a wide variety of music. Cut to high school and I’d be walking around school between classes with a discman of my own (a fancier one with skip protection!). I remember a friend of mine bringing a high capacity (at that time) mp3 player with him to school (this is before the iPod was ever a thing) and that little device fascinated me. That spurred an interest in the gear side of things.
Mix in learning to play guitar and spending a lot of time in team buses on long road trips while playing baseball in college, and having a nice pair of headphones and a good device to pair them with became a lifelong hobby.
Tom: Oh, man, I remember the high capacity mp3 days. I had this ugly-in-the-extreme Archos MP3 player that would weigh down my cargo shorts to the point of indecency.
James: Man I had an Archos 5!! It was buggy and died early on me, but I loved it while I had it.
Tom: Archos gang represent!
So I’ve noticed that audiophiles start one of two ways: either they love music and seek out better gear to enjoy it with, or they love gear and eventually realize they need something to play through it. Would you say you’re the former?
James: Definitely more of a focus on the music vs audiophile gear on my end. I tend to think most audiophiles would be better served spending time exploring new music rather than their next piece of gear, but I’d hate to yuck anyone’s yum on that front.
Tom: Agreed. Okay, let's talk about Hart Audio. The company started out of your house in Tyler, Texas, and was born from your frustration with the custom cable options available at the time. Can you take us back to that moment? What made you decide to bite the bullet and build your own headphone cables, and how did that initial DIY project grow into a full-fledged company?
James: There were a couple projects at the time that started the venture into making my own stuff.
I got myself an Onkyo DP-X1 DAP. I really wanted to use my Grado SR225 headphones with it, but that was an impossibility without using a ¼” to ⅛” adapter which I didn’t like using, and I still wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the balanced output of the DAP. So I wanted to do something there to allow me to get the Grados compatible while retaining their initial functionality.
It’s a little blurry at this point but around that time I had also been saving up to get a new DAC / Amp set up as well as some new headphones for a little listening corner I was trying to put together at my house. This was going to require some custom cables to get set up how I intended.
When shopping for cables I just found the prices to be exorbitant, and the lead times were much longer than what I was hoping for. I then just figured I learned how to solder back in engineering school, I’ll just do it myself, and we were off to the races from there.
Somewhere along the line I ended up coming up with the idea to terminate the Grado cable to the mini-xlr and use “interconnects” to hot swap the end of it so I could use it with my amp, the DAP, or whatever else I may come across.
During that process, I was working with a friend of mine who at the time ran Synthesizers.com (Such a cool company, big modular synths!) in town. He was looking at what I was doing and asked if I had considered selling it. I thought about it from there, found that there may have been a business case to be made, and couldn’t think of a reason not to try it, so off we went.
Tom: Hey, necessity’s the mother of invention. I also gotta give a shoutout to Baroness in the photo above. That album’s a favorite of mine.
James: Great Taste! The Red Album may be their best I think. I think I might’ve listened to Grad on repeat for a week straight after I heard it the first time.
Tom: Grad is my favorite! I'm putting that on right after this interview.
Let’s talk about the early phase of the company. You launched the Hart Audio webstore in the fall of 2019 while still working full-time as a product development engineer. What was it like juggling a burgeoning new business with your day job (and family life) in those early days? How did you manage that transition, and how did you know when it was the right time to make Hart Audio your full-time gig?
James: This was definitely the toughest part. I launched it in mid-September. By November we were moving into our first office (I was having people come work / help out of my house prior to that). By December we were needing to move into a larger office.
That December, my wife was diagnosed with cancer (All is good now and she’s doing great thankfully). Needless to say, the stress levels were high!
So the first half of 2020 was me going into my job from 7:30 am ish to 5:30 pm ish, I’d get home and help out around the house and get the kids to bed and wife settled, and then would head to the HAC office and work till around 2 or 3 am to try and get caught up with this business that wouldn’t stop growing and make sure the crew had what they needed to get through the next day while I was at work. That was the daily routine for a long while, and looking back I’m not sure how I did it. Very grateful for my wife. Knowing this was unsustainable, by May we had made the decision for me to give it a shot full time.
Tom: Oh my God that sounds intense. Raising a family, working two jobs, and dealing with a serious illness. Kudos to you for not throwing in the towel on the business. What was it that kept you going in those early days? A certainty that the company was going to be a success?
James: I’m really not sure! It definitely wasn’t the healthiest way to go about things. I think I just saw it as this incredible opportunity and I didn’t want to blow it or let it pass me by, so sleep went by the wayside for a bit.
Tom: You’re built out of stronger stuff than I, sir.
You’ve built Hart Audio around a clear philosophy of quality, functionality, and affordability. In fact, you’ve said you don’t think people should have to pay more for a cable than they did for their headphones. How did you develop this philosophy on audio and design, and how does it influence the way you create your products and run your business?
James: Without going too Inside Baseball, there’s a practicality I try to keep in mind when designing our products. And I tend to favor what I want to see in a product, and trust / hope that customers will feel likewise.
I’ve felt that a lot of the business practices and pricing in the audiophile space are inappropriate / borderline predatory, so I’ve always tried to avoid these “business-as-usual” type things when it comes to our approach with Hart Audio.
Tom: Could not agree more. It irritates me when companies set their pricing based on “how expensive” something sounds. What does that even mean?
Speaking of ethical business practices, one of the core values you emphasize is taking a “Humanity First” approach. What does that principle mean to you as a founder? Can you share an example of how putting people first – whether customers, employees, or the community – has guided a decision you’ve made or the way you do business at Hart Audio Cables?
James: I think it really just comes down to trying to always keep in mind that there are people on each end of this thing. I want Hart Audio to walk the walk more than we talk the talk. And I hope that’s reflected in interactions customers have had with us. We really try to do the best we can when it comes to taking care of our customers and trying to respect their time & money.
Tom: Well, the response from customers since you started has been “way crazier” than you could have imagined. Looking back, what have been some of the most rewarding or memorable moments in your journey so far? Was there a particular milestone, customer interaction, or achievement that made you feel especially proud of what Hart Audio Cables has become?
James: Naturally, when this thing launched and started growing, our lead times lagged behind what we had originally intended they’d be. Especially after my wife’s health scare. Our customers were so patient and understanding, and generally rooted for us to succeed. It was something else! Very much a faith-in-humanity restoring experience.
Tom: That’s great to hear. That’s generally been my experience in the audio industry as well. Hart Audio grew so fast that you said you were “playing catch up” almost immediately with orders. What have been the biggest challenges in scaling the company from a one-man operation to a growing team?
James: The biggest challenge is that this wasn’t launched like a traditional startup. There was no capital investment, no pool of money to pull from to invest in hiring engineers and managers to help get ahead of the demand we were seeing. It’s always been a slow process of investing back into the company what we make on current sales.
Hart Audio is a brand that probably should have distribution in other countries, and more people / resources devoted to helping the brand grow. But because it’s so small those things come much slower.
Tom: Bootstrap all the way. Success may come slower but at least you don’t have investors to answer to. What advice would you give to other enthusiasts or creators who hope to turn their own passion projects into a company?
James: Less waifus on your packaging, and less word soup in your copy <3
Tom: LESS waifus? Hold up. I gotta make some phone calls.
James: It’s such a bizarre trend in this space! I need to give Zeos more of a hard time for being at least partly responsible, haha.
Tom: No comment.
What is your vision for the future of Hart Audio Cables? Now that it’s your full-time gig with a growing team, where do you hope to see the company in the next five or ten years? Are there any new products, innovations, or goals on the horizon that you’re excited to pursue?
James: Lots of things planned! Just keep an eye out for our newsletter (You can sign up on our site).
