Kimber KS 1036 Silver RCA Cable Review

[JimWeir]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Kimber Kable KS1036 "Silver" RCA Cable. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $4,520 for a pair (1 meter).
View attachment 518589
While I did not care for the cheap plastic box it came in, the cable itself has a bit of style with that loose wooden piece with their logo and model number. The wire itself is flexible and lightweight which I appreciated. What I did not care for was the WBT connector:
View attachment 518590
It is locking which is nice. But if you look carefully, there is only one metal tab that makes connection with the female RCA connection. The other two are rather flimsy plastic tabs that get pressed into the connector for the "locking" function. Without turning the outer shell to lock it, it is super loose. Even after locking, wiggling the Kimber cable caused momentary noise and glitches. In contrast, the cheap Amazon Basics cable had nice, tight connectors that didn't have any of this fussiness and produced a much more secure connection.

The only thing I could find under "technical details" was this:

"Six 25AWG Black Pearl solid silver conductors drawn in diamond coated dies and insulated with virgin FEP dielectric under the most exacting tolerances which offer the purest transfers of the most demanding highest resolution signals. These interconnects produce silent backdrops for vivid tonal color and flawless creation of space, time and ultimately the soul of the performance."

Well, that doesn't tell us anything so let's measure.

Kimber Kable KS 1036 Silver Cable Measurements
My "reference" and comparison cable is 6 foot Amazon Basics RCA. I have had a good few years and it has held up to a ton of abuse. It is flexible and as noted, has tight but not overly so RCA connections. I think it cost about $12. Edit: it costs $6.99. I connected the Kimber to Channel 1 of my Audio Precision analyzer and the Amazon to Channel 2. Here is the comparison:
View attachment 518591

As we see, there is no difference whatsoever. There is a bit more mains pick up on Kimber but that could just be the analyzer or the environment. I placed an AC transformer next to both cables and both managed to pick up negligible amount of interference (not shown).

Next, I tested wideband frequency response and phase:
View attachment 518592
View attachment 518593

I know, I know, "what about time domain." Here is the rise time of a 20 kHz square wave, hugely magnified to show its rising edge:
View attachment 518594

Couldn't be more identical if we tried.

Then I decided to go crazy and used both interconnects for S/PDIF digital! Yes, I fed both square wave signals and ran the jitter signal through them. Both produced essentially the same response as no cable (internal AP loopback):
View attachment 518595

There was a tiny bit more spikes on Amazon but it is double the length and in tests like this, slightest difference creates such variability.

Conclusions
The Kimber KS 1036 has identical electrical performance as my ultra cheap (but well built) Amazon cables. Testing was performed way outside of audible range and still no difference was found. In the lengths used, use of silver does nothing for signal transmission with such high impedances.

I did not care at all for the WBT connectors on the Kimber. Their locking is not very secure and the plastic tabs could break. I forgot to mention that the shell that rotates to tighten or loosen, can completely fall off, rending the cable useless! I thought WBT made good products but this one isn't one of them.

KS 1036 is quite expensive even by high-end prices. Just going up to 2 meters to match my Amazon cable doubles the cost to tear inducing $8,000!!! Yes, there are cables north of $20,000 but still, this is pretty high. Company needs to upgrade the plastic box it comes in as I have bought $50 IEMs with better feeling of luxury than this thing.

I guess if there is any "good" news is that the KS 1036 doesn't make anything worse as some of its competitors do.

I can't recommend the Kimber KS1036 cable. You knew this I am sure but you have some data to back it up!
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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

How do you load the cable for these tests. What impedance does it see at its output? Should be 10k to 50k ohms.

 

[amirm]

How do you load the cable for these tests. What impedance does it see at its output? Should be 10k to 50k ohms.

100 Kohm. But that factor is immaterial. Here is the same cable used to measure a pre-amp (together with another pair):

 

[sonitus mirus]

100 Kohm. But that factor is immaterial. Here is the same cable used to measure a pre-amp (together with another pair):

Impedance matters, but mainly the source output impedance. With modern gear it’s low enough that the cable doesn’t form a meaningful filter in the audio band, so changing the load from 10k to 100k won’t change the result in any meaningful audio way.

 

[Jancio]

I have nothing but respect for manufacturers of these things (cables and so on)
Their ability to persuade morons to part with tens of thousands of dollars for piece of copper or silver and have them think that their sound is better is nothing short of amazing

Yes!. I feel exactly the same way. Moreover, I believe that the flow of money from the less intelligent to the more intelligent is not a bad thing. At least there’s a better chance that the smarter person will do something useful with it—create jobs, or at least support tourism or the automotive industry—instead of spending thousands on a braided little wire

 

[voodooless]

At least there’s a better chance that the smarter person will do something useful with it—create jobs, or at least support tourism or the automotive industry—instead of spending thousands on a braided little wire

The smarter person in this scenario most certainly isn’t the more moral person, so don’t hold your breath…

 

[JustAnandaDourEyedDude]

Still one can find people (they sometimes come at the door) to try to convince me (their) God is real.

"I'd love to chat with you folks about this, but I'm running late for a 'No Gods' march that I'm reeaally pumped up for"

 

[Jcrow]

Let me make sure this point is clear:

There is nothing in your system that has lower noise, lower distortion, and wider bandwidth than the interconnect cable!

The cable far exceeds the capabilities of my analyzer and naturally, human ear. So even if you think the cable is impairing something, it is not remotely in the same class than all the other components in your system.

Whatever esoteric technical argument someone can make about cables not being transparent, applies a thousand or million times more to the rest of your system!

It is not at all the "bottleneck" that subjectivist audiophiles with no technical background think.

I thought your analogy for cables being like a highway between two cities was really good. Very easy for a non-technical person, like me, to conceptualise!

 

[PacketofCrisps]

"There is nothing in your system that has lower noise, lower distortion, and wider bandwidth than the interconnect cable!"

This is such an important point, I think it's a psychological thing, you look at a thin piece of wire connecting large components and your brain tells you "this is the bottleneck!, it has to be!"

 

[PJR918BMW]

So good you quoted me twice.
Keith

Ok . I'll tell you what I wasn't going to put. If you sell these cables you are as bad as the people that make them..they. are. a. scam.
After I saw your support for them I bothered to find Ascilab's direct sales website. Worked out that even with vat and import duty it will be cheaper to buy the speakers direct.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
..see, I do humour too.

 

[Purité Audio]

I do not support ‘boutique’ cables, I do not even sell cables, I recommend buying a ‘fit for purpose’ cable from a pro manufacturer.
Just so that we are clear.
Keith

 

[Universal Cereal Bus]

It would be really enlightening to survey the owners who provide these types of devices (cables, conditioners, etc.) for testing, and ask them one simple question: at the time of purchase, what percentage of the decision did you attribute to an expectation of improved sound quality, and confirm that the remaining percentage is attributed to other non-sound factors (look, feel, brand).

So much of the discourse involves accusations of fraud, dishonesty, and unethical practices. But if a cable buyer attributes 1% of the price ($40) to electrical performance, I'm ok with that. $40 is a reasonable price for cables and I have no business judging the $3960 spent on fashion choices.

That's not to diminish Amir's test. I believe it's still valuable for its educational aspect. But it would be a greater public service to include this survey information. We're under no impression that buyers of luxury cars and handbags are deluded that those products technically perform better.

I think much of the argument here is because we just don't know to what extent cable buyers are deluded.

 

[Purité Audio]

I haven't seen a ‘boutique’ cable manufacturer state in their advertising that their expensive cable will categorically NOT improve sound quality, have you?
Keith

 

[Universal Cereal Bus]

I haven't seen a ‘boutique’ cable manufacturer state in their advertising that their expensive cable will categorically NOT improve sound quality, have you?
Keith

That's my point. BMW is "The Ultimate Driving Machine," which is bullshit in its absolutism and every buyer knows it. A Hyundai accelerates faster but you buy the BMW for other reasons. Are cable buyers the same? Or do they truly believe the marketing? We don't really know, and knowing would put to rest a lot of the discussion in this thread.

 

[Buckeye Amps]

That's my point. BMW is "The Ultimate Driving Machine," which is bullshit in its absolutism and every buyer knows it. A Hyundai accelerates faster but you buy the BMW for other reasons. Are cable buyers the same? Or do they truly believe the marketing? We don't really know, and knowing would put to rest a lot of the discussion in this thread.

Go take a gander on the Audiogon forums and you can easily find the answer
(Hint: they believe the marketing)

 

[voodooless]

Are cable buyers the same? Or do they truly believe the marketing? We don't really know

Yes we know. Forums full of people claiming they believe the cables make a difference. They can’t all by lying…

I don’t see the car analogy either. This isn’t anything like BMW vs Hyundai…

 

[xray]

BMW is "The Ultimate Driving Machine," which is bullshit in its absolutism and every buyer knows it. A Hyundai accelerates faster but you buy the BMW for other reasons.

You obviously have never driven a BMW. Acceleration is a small part of driving performance. It's like saying power is the only measure of an amplifier's performance. Regardless, pointing to the marketing slogan as a claim is a stretch. Next you'll be saying Red Bull doesn't really give you wings.

 

[NTTY]

Next you'll be saying Red Bull doesn't really give you wings.

You made my day

 

[Universal Cereal Bus]

Yes we know. Forums full of people claiming they believe the cables make a difference. They can’t all by lying…

I don’t see the car analogy either. This isn’t anything like BMW vs Hyundai…

survey the owners who provide these types of devices (cables, conditioners, etc.) for testing

Anecdotal evidence of many dupes on a forum is not very scientific. The marketing is obviously bad. But ASR collectively seems to believe it's a big systemic problem, that regulators may need to step in. Frankly, there's a whiff of hysteria that is not objective nor based in good evidence. I'm only suggesting that more data can be collected to gauge the extent of the supposed duplicity. Amir is already receiving a sample from a person that bought an outrageous product. Is it too much to ask one question about that purchase?

 

[Buckeye Amps]

"Yes it's a ripoff and false advertising, but is it really affecting THAT many people?"

The number of people who bought into the lies doesn't change the fact that a company is blatantly lying...

 

[101geo]

It would be really enlightening to survey the owners who provide these types of devices (cables, conditioners, etc.) for testing, and ask them one simple question: at the time of purchase, what percentage of the decision did you attribute to an expectation of improved sound quality, and confirm that the remaining percentage is attributed to other non-sound factors (look, feel, brand).

So much of the discourse involves accusations of fraud, dishonesty, and unethical practices. But if a cable buyer attributes 1% of the price ($40) to electrical performance, I'm ok with that. $40 is a reasonable price for cables and I have no business judging the $3960 spent on fashion choices.

That's not to diminish Amir's test. I believe it's still valuable for its educational aspect. But it would be a greater public service to include this survey information. We're under no impression that buyers of luxury cars and handbags are deluded that those products technically perform better.

I think much of the argument here is because we just don't know to what extent cable buyers are deluded.

I reckon the level of delusion is directly proportional to the costs of their cables or for the mathematicians among us "D∝C", no?