Kimber KS 1036 Silver RCA Cable Review

[Hipster Doofus]

Thanks for this...

I know you probably can't say this out loud but this is thievery ...

 

[DSJR]

I love my Amazon Basics. There. I said it.

I bought a set 'as a giggle' and laughed the other side of my face once I tried them, as they're bloomin' good! Dressed to the nines with external woven jacket and terminated with fancy-wanky looking plugs on each end, they'd easily sell to higher end clients for several hundred quid for a 1.2m pair.

By the way, for some years now, the RCA plugs consisting of a return/negative 'pin-in-plastic-housing' has been a thing in audiophool circles, and even better if a copper pin as well... I tried them and found them a pain to solder up (maybe I needed a dinky-tip iron?).

Was the overall capacitance tested please as this is one thing that may just give a subjective impression (I didn't say 'difference')?


P.S. I do remember proper high quality silver conductors making naff-all difference over good copper BUT, something always seemed to be going on with silver PLATED wire, both speaker and signal. No idea why and obviously no objective evidence, but I've tended to avoid 'hybrid' wires like this for a considerable time now.

(Speaker wires, QED Silver Anniversary, Chord Co. Rumour and Odyssey and interconnects made using the same basic conductors - Chorus? Other interconnects using microwave frequency cable with silver (plated?) inner conductor - Chord Solid and NVA Soundpipe from memory.)

 

[aagstn]

I love that even on cables this expensive they still find ways to cut corners and do things on the cheap with plastic locking tabs.

 

[aagstn]

I believe the cables did not perfomed because there were no power conditioner in the system.
I suggess the PowerPlant 20 from PS Audio at 10K$ or even better, the Shunyata Everest-X at 21k$

You have to put your silver cables on cable lifters as well to get them to perform their best.

 

[Heulpic]

You have to put your silver cables on cable lifters as well to get them to perform their best.

True. Otherwise it's a waste of money of course. However no reason to spend too much here. Few Viablue Rocket XL at 450$ a pair would do. Happy to help people to spend their money with care.

 

[Crook]

I have no issue with anyone of adequate means, buying these cables. Maybe they like the looks, or want to brag on the name and that is 100% up to them.
My issue with this kind of product is the delusional belief that they sound better, that is what I have a problem with. It is proven untrue here today, but I am not sure the indoctrinated will change their minds.

 

[dtaylo1066]

Since they are only $4,500 a pair, and the wood thing looks sharp, I bought 3 pair, one for each of my two systems, and anothe to age in my cable cellar like a fine wine. In addition to burn in, good cables are best if aged for a while. One to three years. I also purchased an additional pair and donated it to the Flat Earth Society's listening room. The motto in the listening room wall states "Flat Earth, Flat Frequency Response." Brilliant!

 

[Tell]

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

I have no respect whatsoever for them, for the exact same reason as yours. People making their livelihood from fooling people into buying snake oil that they really don't need can burn in hell!

 

[Heulpic]

Since they are only $4,500 a pair, and the wood thing looks sharp, I bought 3 pair, one for each of my two systems, and anothe to age in my cable cellar like a fine wine. In addition to burn in, good cables are best if aged for a while. One to three years. I also purchased an additional pair and donated it to the Flat Earth Society's listening room. The motto in the listening room wall states "Flat Earth, Flat Frequency Response." Brilliant!

Do you know if they received the ''must have'' cryogenic treatment? Also, for the aging issue, I think, like wine, cables have good and bad ''millésimes'' depending on years of production. I would be interested to have a ''vertical'' listening test with same cables of different production. Of course this is only necessary for the ''premier crus'' of cables brand.

 

[sqrl]

I rated these Great (golfing partner), since they perform to the level of Amir's reference system, if you don't muck about with them too much.

 

[Mojo Warrior]

Con artists are not limited to audiophiles. They make wild claims and promises and fail to deliver. It is as old as humanity.

In case you haven't noticed lately the con artists are "on a roll" globally, we will never be rid of them.

Kudos to ASR for bringing evidence to the discussion but to paraphrase American author Mark Twain "No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot".

Hitchens's Razor also applies "What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence", so no further testing is needed.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

How do we even measure the window into the sublime these cables afford? We should consider ourselves fortunate indeed that Ray Kimber (is he still alive?) has deigned to provide such a passport to true audio transcendence for us. And a two meter pair only costs as much as a pair of Asci C8c's! And they are absolutely necessary to hear all the magic the speakers are capable of. Moreover, I'm sure Kimber offers RCA to XLR converters to make it work in this set up undoubtedly for no more than a couple extra Grover Clevelands. So hell to the yeah, let's go for it!

Thanks for the nice review, Amir.

 

[Robbo99999]

Oh dear, these are just embarrassing now, these cables!

 

[Rick63]

Con artists are not limited to audiophiles.

In case you haven't noticed lately they are "on a roll" globally

Yep. Just one example are these scam commercials. They irk me so much that everytime they come on TV I have to change the channel. Do people actually believe these millionaire celebrities have Car Shield?

 

[Gremlins]

This one or another one , we don't care.
We care about these folks on forums raving about these items and letting thé World know that they hear something..

they live amongs us, always remember that

 

[JeffS7444]

I believe the cables did not perfomed because there were no power conditioner in the system.
I suggess the PowerPlant 20 from PS Audio at 10K$ or even better, the Shunyata Everest-X at 21k$. Needless to say, these PC work best with active isolation platforms like Seismion or Accurion.

True story here: I found a PS Power Plant sitting on a curb, free for the taking. The case appeared to be in pretty good shape, but after briefly hefting it, I felt zero desire to haul it several blocks to my place!

 

[kemmler3D]

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

There's nothing really amazing about it. It's always easy to sell something if you're willing to lie, exploit placebo effect, and nobody holds you accountable. See: the whole homeopathy industry, most of the supplement industry, most chiropractors, magic crystals, magic bracelets, EMF blocking clothes. etc.

You might say it's amazing that people with $4k to spend on a cable could be so gullible, but having money and an interest in good sound are not correlated with audio knowledge...

The reason that these charlatans are able to stay in business is simple. You can't sue for false advertising unless you're a customer, and only true believers become customers.

I actually sincerely hope the member who sent this cable in for testing takes Kimber to court. There's plenty of hard evidence here that their claims are extremely bogus.

 

[DSJR]

I love that even on cables this expensive they still find ways to cut corners and do things on the cheap with plastic locking tabs.

The whole point of plugs like that is NOT to have metal apart from the contact 'pin' down one side...

 

[CB89]

Based on the measured values, I would cautiously say that these cables are not worth it, even if they are generously sold as a pair. /s

 

[tineared]

I would also like to thank the member who sent in the cables
While his spending judgement may be questionable, he had the courage of his convictions to send the cables to Amir for testing

I love my current pair of main speakers, but they are over 30 years old and something on them could toast at any moment
So I would be happy to receive any hand-me-down speakers he would care to discard or contributions towards a future speaker purchase

Thank you for your consideration in this matter