StereoNET 4PR and 8PR Review
Friday, 3rd May 2024
Kimber 4PR and 8PR speaker cables receive yet more awards - this time from the keyboard of John Pickford at online magazine StereoNET
Since their launch, the latest iterations of Kimber’s legendary 4PR and 8PR speaker cables – now featuring VariStrand™ conductors - have received a lot of significant awards in the UK Hi-Fi media. Amongst these are two from Hi-Fi+ magazine, including winner of the speaker cable category in their 25th Anniversary Awards issue.
Now, online magazine, StereoNET, has added to the plaudits with one of their Applause Awards for both cables.
Kimber 4PR
Starting with 4PR, the reviewer, John Pickford, reports that the sound presented is spacious and open with excellent treble extension. “This accentuates fine detail in vocals and lead instruments”, he writes, “and shines a spotlight on ambient cues such as reverb and delay effects.”
John gives the example of the track Us and Them from the Pink Floyd album Dark Side Of The Moon, which, he says, takes on a more ethereal tone, with echo and reverb elements more obviously “shrouding the lead vocal and saxophone”. The overall effect is to allow the rhythm to flow, with a less “stodgy” feel.
Kimber 8PR
Moving on to the 8PR, he discovers that all the positive attributes of its smaller sibling remain – especially in that treble ‘airiness’ – but now the performance is far more fleshed out with “a more solidly focused midrange and bass”.
8PR brings out “more depth and substance in recordings”, he observes, but “not at the expense of rhythmic alacrity, as the music is replayed with all its inherent pace and drive intact.”
“what [these] cables do sonically is seriously special”
Playing jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan’s album The Sidewinder on vinyl highlights the cable’s adept timing abilities and “really gets the toe tapping”.
Separation between instruments is very clear, creating a cohesive presentation between the five instrumentalists, “while the natural timbre of the acoustic instruments is startlingly accurate”, leading him to conclude that 8PR “gives a very impressive performance”.
Summing up, given the level of performance that 4PR and 8PR offer at their respective price points, John suggests that perhaps KIMBER KABLE® should be even better known than it is in the UK, because “what its cables do sonically is seriously special”.
Media: StereoNET online magazine
Publication: April 2024
Verdict: Applause Award
CLICK HERE FOR MORE ABOUT 8PR
CLICK HERE FOR MORE ABOUT 4PR
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 Audiograde review of 8PR
Written By Simon Dalton