Kimber KS 1036 Silver RCA Cable Review

[Paperdragons]

My "favorite" cable is a Siltech Triple Crown LS.
Yours for only 105 466 USD

​

Hey now, I looked this up because you made it sound so enticing. Frankly, it is a steal because it is on sale for only 77k (per two meters)! https://www.thecableco.com/royal-triple-crown-speaker-cable-pair.html

 

[Ruediger]

It's Royal. Doesn't get better than this. Kryptonite maybe!

 

[DSJR]

If memory my memory serves me . It seems to have begun with speaker cables 4TC and 8TC or similar, with a twist pattern that reduces inductance, in theory this should be better . Prices where not totally horrible.

But all these businesses seam to meander towards more snakeoil and higher prices all the time .

Weren't the 4TC and 8TC cables high in capacitance though (old memories here)? many of the audiophile 'on the edge' amps worked with them (cheap Krell KAV models, early Audio Analogue), but as none of these had any protection to speak of (makes it 'sound' worse, don't you know), they could pop part of full of an output stage as quick as a finger-snap - and did...

 

[Limopard]

Once I fell for their PBJ interconnect but that only cost me about 70 EUR. Lesson learned.

 

[delta76]

Hey now, I looked this up because you made it sound so enticing. Frankly, it is a steal because it is on sale for only 77k (per two meters)! https://www.thecableco.com/royal-triple-crown-speaker-cable-pair.html

by their logic, buying it on sale will reduce the sound quality, because you know, the synergy was lost with less money spent

 

[Ajax]

3 people voted GREAT.

If any of them would like to message me I have a block of land for sale with sweeping views over the Strait of Hormuz.

 

[DSJR]

Customers want a cable 'upgrade path' to go with the gear upgrade ladder.

I feel the sub-conscious has all manner of tricks to play and with apologies to @Mart68 here, the Krell KSA50S I had which you now own, came with all kinds of subliminal 'audiophile' issues for me - is my preamp good enough (passive or active), should I be using balanced connections for best performance, why doesn't it 'sound' any better than my early 70s Crown D-150 into the safe-enough load my speakers offered (no need for the 60A of peak current available from the Krell) and should I consider wholesale upgrades of interconnects, cables and so on? It's a kind of 'club' one can enter, not that I feel Mart gives a hoot (I say that with deepest respect sir), but it's these types of audio nervosae that sells cables like this to wealthy participants in said 'club' I feel, as no way would they feel the gear would perform properly with 'ordinary' cables and they'd be totally horrified (as in the humorous post above) if anyone actually 'liked' the Amazon Basics wires let alone actually deemed to USE them, even if the innards are similar to their fancy dressed conventional alternatives. This in addition to the >60% dealer profits on most interconnect and speaker wirtes (I have first hand knowledge of this in the UK at least)

 

[Mnyb]

by their logic, buying it on sale will reduce the sound quality, because you know, the synergy was lost with less money spent

I could buy them for the sale price and sell them to you for more money to restore the performance

 

[UK Sugden Fan]

It

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. 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!
-----------
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/

Frustrates me that so many people believe that we know everything about cable characteristics that can be measured and have the capability to measure them.
I have had very little trouble hearing differences in cables for many years now.
Interestingly I don't always prefer the most expensive ones, my system is populated by moderate costing cables which seem to suit it and me. Amazingly the best value upgrade I have done for many years was 3m of ethernet cable from my router to my streamer, it was £30 improved musical flow, detail retrieval whilst also sounding smoother and also gave bass more 'interest & texture'. I know it's difficult to put sound quality into words but these are my words for what I hear, and my system overall is vintage to newish and relatively affordable.

 

[Ropeburn]

It

Frustrates me that so many people believe that we know everything about cable characteristics that can be measured and have the capability to measure them.
I have had very little trouble hearing differences in cables for many years now.
Interestingly I don't always prefer the most expensive ones, my system is populated by moderate costing cables which seem to suit it and me. Amazingly the best value upgrade I have done for many years was 3m of ethernet cable from my router to my streamer, it was £30 improved musical flow, detail retrieval whilst also sounding smoother and also gave bass more 'interest & texture'. I know it's difficult to put sound quality into words but these are my words for what I hear, and my system overall is vintage to newish and relatively affordable.

My cables sound the best, because pride of workmanship makes everything sound better. Simple psychological fact. They're also handmade in Germany and as the "made in Germany" label is the most respected in the world, that's impossible to beat. Tee hee hee.

 

[Mart68]

I have had very little trouble hearing differences in cables for many years now.

In controlled listening comparisons?

We probably all perceive differences in casual, sighted listening at least sometimes. I know I do. Are they real? Pretty much never (although if they have very high capacitance or resistance they might be).

 

[AudioSceptic]

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. 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!
-----------
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/

Results as expected and insanely overpriced. Were the 3 who voted "Great" being ironic?

 

[LunaTempesta]

1M of this cable alone is half the price of my full system.

Even if you have an insane amount of expandable cashflow, I will never understand the target demographic for these kinds of items.
Smart enough to get rich // Dumb enough to fall for snake oil.

 

[Heulpic]

OK, here we go again with another reviewer slagging off Kimber without even listening to the cable. Look, some things just can't be measured, and if someone can't hear the difference between this Kimber and an Amazon Basics, then they need their ears testing. I bet Amir didn't even bother to burn it in before testing it, sigh.

I own this Kimber cable and I can tell you that it really does lift the veil on everything I can throw at it, and it provides an astonishing level of blackness between the notes, so dark it's almost haunting. On Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing", I could finally hear the micro-dynamics of Mark's plectrum hitting the strings, and it felt like he was standing right there with me. Next I queued up Teddy Swims with "Broke", where the Kimber accentuated the smooth chocolatey mids in his voice, before the final test of Meat Loaf. Now I don't know why I was worried, the Kimber revealed so much shimmer in the high-end transients, along with a wonderful wide-open holographic soundstage, and I couldn't want for anything more as he belted out "Life is a Lemon and I Want my Money Back". It was clear audible justification for the $4k spend.

So, if you listen - really listen - and you honestly can't tell the difference between this Kimber and an Amazon Basics cable then as I said, you need your ears testing, or maybe your system simply isn't resolving enough? All I can say is that when used to connect my Aiyima T20 and SMSL A50 Pro, the synergy that the Kimber brings is nothing short of miraculous. It's 5-stars from me, so stop with the measurements and use your ears, get out there and buy it, it sounds great (my wife thinks so too).

I suggess you follow Stereophile, Absolute Sound or What Hi-Fi magazines instead of this forum to get some comfort. They know better.

 

[HeadBanger]

OK, here we go again with another reviewer slagging off Kimber without even listening to the cable. Look, some things just can't be measured, and if someone can't hear the difference between this Kimber and an Amazon Basics, then they need their ears testing. I bet Amir didn't even bother to burn it in before testing it, sigh.

I own this Kimber cable and I can tell you that it really does lift the veil on everything I can throw at it, and it provides an astonishing level of blackness between the notes, so dark it's almost haunting. On Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing", I could finally hear the micro-dynamics of Mark's plectrum hitting the strings, and it felt like he was standing right there with me. Next I queued up Teddy Swims with "Broke", where the Kimber accentuated the smooth chocolatey mids in his voice, before the final test of Meat Loaf. Now I don't know why I was worried, the Kimber revealed so much shimmer in the high-end transients, along with a wonderful wide-open holographic soundstage, and I couldn't want for anything more as he belted out "Life is a Lemon and I Want my Money Back". It was clear audible justification for the $4k spend.

So, if you listen - really listen - and you honestly can't tell the difference between this Kimber and an Amazon Basics cable then as I said, you need your ears testing, or maybe your system simply isn't resolving enough? All I can say is that when used to connect my Aiyima T20 and SMSL A50 Pro, the synergy that the Kimber brings is nothing short of miraculous. It's 5-stars from me, so stop with the measurements and use your ears, get out there and buy it, it sounds great (my wife thinks so too).

Very good. You had me for a 'wtf' moment and then I re-read it

HB

 

[RHO]

3 people voted GREAT.

To be fair, the performance is great. Inaudible degradation of the signal.
Doesn't mean the value is great too.
So, it depends on how you view the poll.

 

[voodooless]

I have had very little trouble hearing differences in cables for many years now.

You're 74, you'll have trouble hearing anything properly at all, let alone differences between cables, DAC and amps.

And without controls, any bets are off.

 

[Rick63]

The real question is: Will the owner dare to post here admitting the cables are his?

 

[Dick-A]

Amazon Basics or even BlueJeans, Benchmark, save your money. Heck, you now have enough leftover to buy 4 new tires for that GTR3.

 

[amirm]

Frustrates me that so many people believe that we know everything about cable characteristics that can be measured and have the capability to measure them.

The entire industrial world relies on our understanding of cables. How do you reckon that is true yet we don't understand how they work?