The Absolute Sound Editor's Choice 2023
Tuesday, 28th March 2023
The March 2023 edition of US magazine The Absolute Sound features their annual ‘Editor’s Choice Awards’. Selecting stand-out products from every category of the Hi-Fi universe, the cables section highlights 9 selections from the Kimber range: 8TC, 12TC, Carbon 16 & 18XL, KS-USB Ag, Hero Cu, KS-1036 & KS-1136 and KS-6068
Here’s a list of the award-winning cables:
Kimber 8TC and 12TC
Kimber 12TC Speaker cable construction
Sharing the same geometry and materials but separated by the number of conductors (16 vs 24) 8TC and 12TC sit at the top of the traditional woven Kimber range of speaker cables and are able to handle themselves with aplomb in all but the highest of high-end systems.
“ability to remain musical no matter what is happening fore and aft … detail, liveliness, tonal neutrality, and dynamic contrasts within a very realistic, holographic soundstage”
Click here to view 8TC
Click here to view 12TC
Kimber Carbon 16 & 18XL
Kimber Carbon 18XL Speaker cable
TAS was impressed with these cables from the Carbon range, saying of both that they "have a clean, lively and bold midrange character with excellent octave-to-octave tonal balance".
Carbon 16 was regarded as "neither laid-back nor agressive" with "a very slight neutral-to-forward midband push" which was particularly flattering of vocal performances.
Carbon 18XL - the top of the range - was, nevertheless, a clear step up, doing "everything just a little bit better". Specifically, "it's top end was airier and more open" and the "sound became more immersive, images more substantive and palpable".
In summing up, Neil Gader writes that "Carbon serves only one master - the music itself".
Click here to view Carbon 16
Click here to view Carbon 18XL
Kimber Select KS-1036 and KS-1136 (balanced version) interconnects & KS-6068 speaker cable
Kimber Select KS-1036 and KS-1136 analogue interconnects
Kimber's pure silver Select analogue interconnects and flagship speaker cable are supreme performers across the board. These all-silver wires are capable of bringing out the very finest nuances in the very finest components.
“there’s a feathery light-footedness to its sound that doesn’t so much add power as it does transient speed. By virtue of a bottomless well of dynamic contrast and tonal color the Kimber unearths energy and atmosphere in even the most familiar recordings.”
Click here to view KS-1036
Click here to view KS-1136
Click here to view KS-6068
Kimber Select KS-USB Ag
Kimber Select KS-USB Ag USB cable
Another top-notch cable for the very best systems. Again, made with Kimber’s finest materials, KS-USB Ag was seen to be as good as it gets when it comes to digital playback from your USB enabled DAC.
“established the widest, most detailed soundstage [the reviewer] has heard from a USB cable… it was the embodiment of speed – with a hint of added top-end brilliance and extension – and so revealing… Candidly, the full breadth of the performance would be lost on the entry-level world.”
Click here to view KS-USB Ag
Kimber Hero Cu
KImber Hero-Cu analogue interconnect
Another well-established cable which is still winning numerous awards. Hero sits at a point in the range which belies its prodigious capabilities, with levels performance suited to all levels of Hi-Fi componentry.
“Hero’s bass lives up to its name, prodigious in amplitude and definition… this interconnect is either dead neutral or tilts a notch to the yang, with dynamics at once powerful yet finely resolved in an essentially grain-free presentation.”
Click here to view Hero Cu
We say...
It’s worth reiterating that many of these cables have been around for a number of years and go to show the intrinsic ‘rightness’ of their design. It’s also reassuring to know that the cable you buy today is not going to be immediately superseded tomorrow: many Kimber cables are still current in the range even decades after launch, and still winning awards! As they say: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Written By Simon Dalton
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