Kimber Carbon 18XL & Carbon interconnect Review
Tuesday, 5th January 2021
The Oct-Dec edition of the respected journal Hi-Fi Critic featured a selection of speaker and analogue interconnect cables. From Kimber's cables, they chose from the latest Carbon range, selecting the Carbon 18XL speaker cable and the Carbon interconnect.
The key elements to be taken from the reviews of both these cables are ‘naturalness’ and ‘neutrality’. This is good news and exactly what we are looking for in a cable; one which will allow the music to dominate rather than the cable’s own characteristics.
Carbon 18XL
The review starts in an encouraging tone: “So far”, writes Martin Colloms, “I have not heard a second rate Kimber Kable and this one is no exception”. High praise indeed.
That naturalness and neutrality we mentioned is at the fore here, and he observes that 18XL “is self-effacing in a good way, imposing very little of itself on the music passing through it to the loudspeakers”. At the same time he also notes that musical imaging is spacious, very precise and well-focussed too.
Again, as is often observed with Kimber Kable, timing is an area that is highlighted as being particularly good. He writes, “I found it to time well, with a pleasing upbeat quality and good listener involvement”. This is one of the key reasons we often refer to their innate musicality, as rhythm and timing are so vital to musical performance and communication - get this wrong in a system and there can be a feeling of a total lack of connection between the performer and the listener.
Again, he observes that “with a low colouration sound and a generally relaxed natural musical character with good image depth there are no sins of omission” and the cable therefore comfortably fits into the “highly recommended category”.
Click here to buy Carbon 18XL
Read about the Hi-Fi News review here
Carbon interconnect
Like its Carbon18XL stablemate, the Carbon analogue interconnect is also characterised by its timing abilities and natural performance leading the reviewer to comment on its “considerable refinement”.
Carbon was also noted for its noise-reducing abilities with Martin observing that “the noise floor seemed very low imparting satisfying image depth and transparency, and there was no hint of false brightness or treble edge.”
Its clarity and focus, along with the ability to present sophisticated stereo imaging, led him to conclude that “this is undoubtedly a high-end cable demonstrating deep spacious sound stages rich in musical detail”.
Click here to buy Kimber Carbon interconnect
Written By Simon Dalton
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