Kimber Kable Recommendations

[Rod#S]

Hello;

This is my first thread as I am new to the forums. I must say it's nice to see a section on the forum dedicated to cables where mature cable discussions can take place. All to often on other forums threads relating to cables are prohibited.

So onto my question, I have been using Kimber Kables since 2002 and I am thinking about upgrading what I have and was wondering what models would be good for my equipment and budget. I do have a local dealer but they don't stock much of a variety of the lines so I will not get to demo the cables in home. The one exception to this was the Monacle XL which the dealer was using on their high end demo rig in the store and I was able to borrow those back in December for a few weeks and absolutely loved them.

So the Kimber Kables I currently have are, a 10' PK10 Gold from my Furman IT-Reference plugged into my Furman SPR-20i, 4 pairs of balanced 1 meter PBJ between my Lexicon MC-12BV5EQ and my Bryston amps (2x4B-SST and a 6B-SST), 3 pairs of 1 meter Toniks with Ultrtike ends between my Denon DVD-A1UDCI and my Lexicon, a 6 meter Cadence for my Paradigm Sub 25 and finally 2 HD19 cables, a 2 meter and 3 meter used for my HDPVR and my Denon.

What I am thinking of first is to upgrade the speaker cables, interconnects between the SSP and poweramps and power cords. I would tackle this in a phased approach, for speaker cables and the interconnects I would start with the front 3 speakers and for the power cables I would target replacing stock cords where I would see/hear the most improvement. My front 3 speakers are a pair of 802 Diamonds and a HTM2 Diamond. I will be upgrading my surround and rear speakers down the road to either 2 pairs of 804 Diamonds or 2 pairs 803 Diamonds. Currently my 4 surround speakers are Paradigm Reference Studio 100v2' and Paradigm Reference Studio ADPv2's. I also have a pair of Paradigm Servo 15a subwoofers.

As for a budget, I'm quite aware of how expensive some of the Kimbers can be so I'm not willing to spend as much on cables as I did on my gear but I am willing to entertain items like the Palladian power kords, Hero, KCAG, Hero HB, Hero Ag, KCTG or even some of the Select interconnects like the 1011, 1111, 1016, 1116. The hybrid Selects would probably start pushing the absolute limits of my budget for interconnects. As for speaker cables for my front 3, based on my demo of the Monacle XL's, those would be the base, man I loved those cables.

Any help and guidance would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Rod

P.S. I forgot to mention, my current speaker cables are Ixos and because my amps are multi-channel and not mono blocks my cable configuration will be long speaker cables and short interconnects between SSP and the amps rather than the other way around.

[jdandy]

Rod.......Cables, both interconnects, speaker cables and power cords are extremely subjective to discuss because each of us has our own preferences. Even beyond that, attempts to select words that accurately convey one's thoughts in a manner that can be totally understood by another is, for all practical purposes, impossible. Some of the more typical and shop worn audio descriptions have been so thoroughly used and abused as to have become almost meaningless.

Having said that, I can make my recommendations to you based on my preferences and results, but ultimately it will be up to you to test and decide for yourself which cables satisfy your personal desires.

I like Kimber Kable for speaker wire. I used Kimber 4TC for 10 years, and have been using Kimber 8TC even longer. I have two systems wired with Kimber 8TC speaker cable, and the performance is to my complete satisfaction. The price point is well under its performance level, and when compared to far more expensive offerings from other manufacturers, Kimber 8TC speaker cable is a true bargain.

For interconnects and power cords I can easily recommend Wireworld products. From the Equinox level up, Wireworld performance runs from very good to astonishing. Both of my systems are wired exclusively with Wireworld Silver Electra power cords, and Silver Eclipse balanced interconnects. The results are thrilling on both system.

Good luck in your cable quest. My best advice to you is pay no attention to the advertisements, or sales people's claims. Listen to them before you buy them, or at least make sure there is a full refund policy. Cable performance is all over the charts, and price is not a genuine or accurate reflection of quality or performance.

[cmalak]

Rod...my recommendation is to get in touch with the Cable Company (http://www.thecableco.com/) and take advantage of their cable lending library. This way you can audition a few cable looms from Kimber cable at different price points and audition them in your system at home. Given that they have pretty much every cable manufacturer represented in their lending library you can also test out cables from other vendors. Good luck.

[Rod#S]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Rod.......Cables, both interconnects and speaker cables are extremely subjective to discuss because each of us has our own preferences. Even beyond that, attempts to select words that accurately convey one's thoughts in a manner that can be totally understood by another is, for all practical purposes, impossible. Some of the more typical and shop worn audio descriptions have been so thoroughly used and abused as to have become almost meaningless.

Having said that, I can make my recommendations to you based on my preferences and results, but ultimately it will be up to you to test and decide for yourself which cables satisfy your personal desires.

I like Kimber Kable for speaker wire. I used Kimber 4TC for 10 years, and have been using Kimber 8TC even longer. I have two systems wired with Kimber 8TC speaker cable, and the performance is to my complete satisfaction. The price point is well under its performance level, and when compared to far more expensive offerings from other manufacturers, Kimber 8TC speaker cable is a true bargain.

For interconnects and power cords I can easily recommend Wireworld products. From the Equinox level up, Wireworld performance runs from very good to absolutely excellent. Both of my systems are wired exclusively with Wireworld Silver Electra power cords, and Silver Eclipse balanced interconnects. The results are thrilling on both system.

Good luck in your cable quest. My best advice to you is pay no attention to the advertisements, or sales people's claims. Listen to them before you buy them, or at least make sure there is a full refund policy. Cable performance is all over the charts, and price is not a genuine or accurate reflection of quality or performance.

Thanks very much for the reply. What type of lengths are you using for your 8TC's? I was thinking 8TC may be the way to go for my surrounds. Currently my Ixos surround lengths are 30' and 50'. The 50' lengths for my rears have proven to be more than enough over the years but the 30' has limited me over the years in where I could place my rack in order to ensure my surrounds could be positioned beside the listening position.

I have been reading up on the Wireworld stuff and a lot of people here do seem to swear by them and the prices are very reasonable especially for the silver cables.

Thanks for the advice.

Rod

[Rod#S]

Originally Posted by cmalak

Rod...my recommendation is to get in touch with the Cable Company (http://www.thecableco.com/) and take advantage of their cable lending library. This way you can audition a few cable looms from Kimber cable at different price points and audition them in your system at home. Given that they have pretty much every cable manufacturer represented in their lending library you can also test out cables from other vendors. Good luck.

Thanks for the info about thecableco.com. Unfortunately I can't take advantage of the lending library because I live in Canada. That's one heck of a service for US residents. I have been using their prices over the years to keep my dealer honest in pricing

Rod

[Masterlu]

I can easily assist you with Wireworld cables & trials.

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by Rod#S

Thanks very much for the reply. What type of lengths are you using for your 8TC's? I was thinking 8TC may be the way to go for my surrounds. Currently my Ixos surround lengths are 30' and 50'. The 50' lengths for my rears have proven to be more than enough over the years but the 30' has limited me over the years in where I could place my rack in order to ensure my surrounds could be positioned beside the listening position.

I have been reading up on the Wireworld stuff and a lot of people here do seem to swear by them and the prices are very reasonable especially for the silver cables.

Thanks for the advice.

Rod.......The main system upstairs uses 38' lengths to each speaker. The Studio system uses 15' lengths to each speaker. Since the aggregate gauge for Kimber 8TC is 9 gauge for each of the positive and negative leads, lengths to 50' present no negative issues.

I have encouraged a number of people to move to Kimber 8TC. My friend Jérôme visited me from Paris, and while here I gave him two lengths of Kimber 8TC to try between his MC2301 amps and PMC EB1i speakers. Jérôme installed the 8TC speaker cable when he returned home, and it has remained his choice of speaker wire. Kimber 8TC continues to win top awards from every major audio publication, so I can't be the only one who appreciates this excellent speaker cable.

[Doug Lax]

Rod,
I have the wireworld eclipse 6 balanced IC. I had XLO sigs before and the difference was dramatic. Ivan is great to work with and Dan is a wealth of info. Kimbers are some wonderful speaker cables as well.

Welcome to our site

[prepress]

I also use 8TC and can say it's very good. Well-reviewed, universally praised. The newer 12TC (8AWG versus 8TC's 9AWG) got a good review from TAS writer Paul Seydor, who's used 8TC as his reference for years.

I also have Hero interconnect and will vouch for it also. It's not that expensive and yields good sound. I use it on my sources to preamp.

I've never used Wireworld interconnects or speaker cable, but many here swear by them. I do have a couple o WW Aurora power cords on my amps (MC501s) and am pleased with the sound.

[Rod#S]

Originally Posted by Masterlu

I can easily assist you with Wireworld cables & trials.

Even to Canada?