Thoughts on Kimber Kable?

[TerryO]

Hi everyone,

 

Can I have your thoughts please on Kimber Kable, especially the 8TC and or 8PR versions, plus if anyone has any experience with their Tonic RCA cable and their Coax cable and how they compare thank you?

 

cheers Terry

Edited April 1, 2017 by TerryO

[Ronidler]

I have both 4PR and 4TC.   Like both and can confirm that the 4TC does sound better - bit more detail. 

[tesla13BMW]

I use 8TC and find it very good with my ESL57's although to qualify I have tried little else other than some solid silver cables from Aurealis Audio.  Trevor from Rage Audio has said that the Kimber 8TC is very good for the ESL57's and therefore I have not really longed to try something different.

[Weka]

I've used 4TC speaker cable and PBJ interconnects (balanced) for a number of years now and consider they provide an excellent performance to price ratio compared to other cables I've tried in much the same price ranges. I'd like to try the KCAG or KCTG silver interconnects but am reluctant to commit without trialing them first. Their cables and construction are based on established engineering principles without the hype and snake oil so typical of many other brands.

[Full Range]

I use Kimber 8TC 

For both sections 

Amp to Crossover 

Crossover to each driver as hookup 

 

The braid design gives them a natural noise shield 

[TerryO]

Thanks for the feedback guys, I have heard a number of story's about Kimba Kables being the best thing since sliced bread but thought before committing to buy I would ask the collective wisdom here how good they are compared to other similar priced cables.

 

I think I will try the 8tc speaker cables and see how they go, but that won't be for a week or two. I had read that these cables really work best after some serious burning in, is this what others have found?

 

cheers Terry

[tesla13BMW]

I didn't find a need for burn in, but, when I fitted mine I had moved to stacked speakers and different amps as well so it was a whole new thing that was growing on me anyway.

 

What I would say is if you can stretch to the 12TC now do so because I think if you get the 8TC you will always be left wanting to know if the 12TC is better!

[TerryO]

8 hours ago, tesla13BMW said:

didn't find a need for burn in, but, when I fitted mine I had moved to stacked speakers and different amps as well so it was a whole new thing that was growing on me anyway.

 

What I would say is if you can stretch to the 12TC now do so because I think if you get the 8TC you will always be left wanting to know if the 12TC is better!

 

I had already wondered about the 'what if' factor regarding 12TC, but I guess the question that came to mind was, is the 12TC better or just overkill when compared to the 8TC?

 

cheers Terry

Edited April 7, 2017 by TerryO

[Weka]

Another option. If you can bi-wire your speakers, a double run of 8TC should outperform a single run of 12TC.

 

[TerryO]

Unfortunately you can't bi-wire Vieanna Acoustic speakers.

 

cheers Terry

[Ralph]

8TC is a great cable, used it for many years connecting my Apogees.

However I did find that it was not the best at high current delivery. Put them on B&W 802s and something (a lot) was lacking when compared with monster cable.

I have since upgraded to Kimber Oracle - a much more suited cable for high current systems. I am now quietly considering bi-wiring with Oracles.

 

RalphH

 

 

[zero1]

From my personal experience-

 

4PR -an excellent budget cable, really like it, does everything well & doesn't embarrass itself when used in $$$ systems.

4VS -preferred the 4PR- hard to put my finger on why though not much in it, still a nice cable & id use it happily.

8VS -really nice- great for very slightly taming a bright system, nice detail, excellent bass response. Currently happily in use in my daily driver system.

4TC -slightly more detail than PR/VS, a touch less lower end but controlled.

8TC -a slight step up from 4TC in all areas, better lower end.

12TC -loved it, did everything right across multiple systems, if budget allowed I'd stretch to 12TC over the 8TC no question. Saying that all are excellent cables & I doubt you'd be disappointed whichever choice you made.

 

The Tonic interconnect is not too dissimilar to Kimber PBJ, a nice detailed interconnect, works well with most components, on the relatively lean side depending on the system synergy. I'd possibly shy away from it though if your system tends to be on the bright side (not a fault of the interconnect), Kimber Hero if budget allows is a good step up with more detail & a smoother more natural presentation IMO.

 

I haven't noticed any major difference with cable burn in on any of these, the sound signature is there from the start, however it could be that it happens slowly so might be hard to pick? Even so i'd say if your auditioning cables & don't like how one sounds first off it's unlikely to make a massive difference to how you feel after it has been run in a while.

Edited April 9, 2017 by zero1

[Blade74]

I run 4TC.
Would love to try some 12TC but only running bookshelves with a 6.5 inch woofer.
May not notice a big change??


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[zero1]

8 minutes ago, Blade74 said:

I run 4TC.
Would love to try some 12TC but only running bookshelves with a 6.5 inch woofer.
May not notice a big change??

 

Depends on the system/ears, but if it's going to make a difference you should hear it whether you're running bookshelves or floorstanders.

 

Try and get some loan cables to demo at home if you've got a local store that stocks it nearby, that way your not out of pocket if you don't like them or the difference isn't noticeable.

[sjay]

I run Kimber BiFocal XL's to my speakers and Kimber Select KS-1130 XLR's between my pre/power/dac. I stopped looking at cable upgrades when I got to that level as I was finally satisfied with the presentation of the music.

Kimber is very under rated IMHO.

Edited April 9, 2017 by sjay

[Blade74]

Can you go too big on speaker cables?


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[Guest Arni]

I am using 8TC as well and stop looking at upgrading until now  i wonder what 12TC would sound like 

[frankn]

Anyone using / have tried KS - 1116, 1126 or 1136 XLR (or RCA) interconnects?  Comments?

i saw from a search that @Smp sold two pairs of 1136's a while back. 

 

[TerryO]

1 hour ago, frankn said:

Anyone using / have tried KS - 1116, 1126 or 1136 XLR (or RCA) interconnects?  Comments?

i saw from a search that @Smp sold two pairs of 1136's a while back. 

 

 

i actually contacted SMP and even though he had sold some of his cables he still holds Kimber Kables in high regard. I will now have to wait a while though before I get a set as I just bought secondhand a Primaluna Integrated amp and it came with a set of these speaker cables.

 

http://www.analysis-plus.com/product/home-audio/speaker-cables/black-mesh-oval-9/

 

I should have the amp and cables here and hooked up on Sunday so can't wait to hear what this combination sounds like.

 

cheers Terry

Edited April 20, 2017 by TerryO

[Smp]

1 hour ago, frankn said:

Anyone using / have tried KS - 1116, 1126 or 1136 XLR (or RCA) interconnects?  Comments?

i saw from a search that @Smp sold two pairs of 1136's a while back. 

 

 

For sake of good order,they were two pairs of 1036's - rca/rca.

[digitalhome]

I'm running 8PR at the moment and very happy.

[tesla13BMW]

Received the latest Russ Andrews booklet and really like the idea of the VS (varistrand).  Silver and copper at different gauges in the same bundle.  Just makes sense really.  I'd love to try it, but two pairs of 2m is too much to spend on a punt that it will be significantly better than 8TC.