Kimber 8PR with VariStrand™
Thursday, 28th July 2022
Hi-Fi web magazine audiograde.uk reviewed Kimber’s new 8PR with VariStrand™ speaker cable and were so impressed they awarded it their Best Speaker Cable of 2022.
Starting off the review, Audiograde editor Andrew Simpson first noted that these are basically the cables which launched Kimber back in 1979 and have now, for the first time, received a significant upgrade (the first cable was 4PR, using the same cable as 8PR but with half the number of conductors).
Unlike the original versions, the new models feature significant improvements in the quality and construction of the conductors, with the introduction of industry-leading conductivity 102% IACS pure electrolytic copper featuring Kimber’s VariStrand™ conductor topology.
A question we often get asked about cables is how flexible they are, presumably because people are concerned whether they are malleable enough to be accommodated into tighter spaces. In fact, as the reviewer notes, the woven nature of these cables means there is no issue here: “the cable feels well made with plenty of flex”.
While playing a hi-res stream of Fables from Interpol’s album The Other Side Of Make-Believe via Qobuz, Andrew found that “8PR presents the intentionally fuzzy guitars and vocals with just the right amount of blur, neither sounding too muddied or too forced. This really helps the Dynaudios and my Musical Fidelity M6 pre/power amp combo work in harmony, showcasing the track with layers of realism and excitement”.
When it comes to creating a sense of realism in the presentation, being able to clearly distinguish between individual instruments and voices is vital, and in this area where he says 8PR “excels… much more so than many rival cables at this price bracket”. The effect of this sense of “air and space“ also shows itself in a wider soundstage which develops “sit up and take notice levels of separation”.
The overall impression it that the 8PR achieves all this “while imparting little character of its own” and “getting out of the way of the music”, which is exactly what it’s designed to do.
In summary, Andrew finds that
"[8PR] is an excellent loudspeaker cable at the price that will ensure your system isn’t held back, especially when digging into the detail and dynamics of the music”.
As an aside, he also points out that he needed a set of 5m cables and found no issues with the cable being used at these longer lengths, pointing out that “despite the generous 5m lengths, background noise is kept to a minimum across all music on test”.
Magazine: audiograde.uk
Published: July 2022
Verdict: Audiograde Best Speaker Cable 2022
Click here to buy 8PR with VariStrand
Read the HiFiPig.com review of 4PR & 8PR
Read the Hi-Fi Choice review of 4PR
Read the Hi-Fi+ review of 4PR & 8PR
Read the StereoNET review of 4PR & 8PR
Written By Simon Dalton
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