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Hi-Fi Plus praise for Kimber Axios

Monday, 23rd October 2017

Kimber Axios - "Help high-end headphones be all they can be".
Kimber Axios Headphone Cable
Kimber Axios shown with Pioneer SE Master-1 Headphones

Hi-Fi Plus and its sister US publication The Absolute Sound have long been familiar with the reputation of Kimber Kable. here we find their publisher Chris Martens waxing lyrical about the AXIOS range in this review.
 
Preceding the review itself, he asks what the point is of using an aftermarket cable with already impressive high-end headphones. The theory goes, he says, that an upgraded cable might make these already good products even better - but does this work in practice? "As a matter of fact it does" he answers, "so that in the best of cases previously untapped (even unimaginable) levels of headphone performance are unleashed in dramatic and breath-taking ways. A case in point would be Kimber Kable's AXIOS headphone signal cable that is the subject of this review".

CLICK HERE TO BUY AXIOS

He first came across this new development in headphone cables at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in October 2015. At this stage the Kimber team only had a pre-production prototype to lend to Chris on the agreement that he wouldn't go public on his findings yet. He writes; "the idea was that the AXIOS prototypes would provide a 'taste of things to come' - and boy did they ever!"

Audeze headphones
Kimber Axios shown with Audeze LCD headphones

With the prototype in place fixed to his Audeze LCD-3F headphones, he didn't actually expect what he was about to hear. "I should say", he writes, "that I have always regarded the Audeze LCD-3F as one of Audeze's most nuanced and expressive headphones, so that in attaching a set of aftermarket cables to the headphones I really wasn't convinced that much if any sonic improvement would result".

CLICK HERE TO BUY AXIOS

So what happened? The new cable, he reports, provided "a significant leap upward in the overall sound quality". So significant was the improvement that he says that he "could almost not believe [his] ears". It wasn't that his headphones changed character, but just that their whole performance was lifted; "the Audeze LCD-3Fs still sounded very much like themselves, only better - much better".

Kimber Axios

These impressive results were with the original prototype, so how did he get on with the finished version? Now, he has moved on to a pair of Mr Speakers ETHER Flow headphones, listening via a Questyle CMA600i balanced output headphone amp/DAC to standard as well as high-res PCM and DSD files. Again, as with the prototype on the Audeze's, the AXIOS' "unlock considerably more of the performance potential of the ETHER Flow headphones". He then goes on to list a number of specific areas in which the Axios has lifted the performance.

So is it worth the substantial investment in a Kimber AXIOS headphone cable when you've already spent an already significant amount on the headphones themselves?

"The bottom line is that Kimber's AXIOS headphone cables can and do help high-end headphones be all that they can be - often in quite dramatic ways." Specifically addressing the price, he goes on "The AXIOS cable is not inexpensive, but it rewards the enthusiast's investment by really delivering the goods, both in sonic terms and in service of the music. Very highly recommended".

Magazine: Hi-Fi+
Issue: July 2017
Rating: Very Highly Recommended

CLICK HERE TO BUY AXIOS

Click here to read the Hi-Fi Choice review
Click here to read the Hi-Fi World review


 

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Comments


reviewed by Robert
27 Oct 2017
Comment
will the cable fit B&W p9 signature?
Customer Service Reply Dear Robert, unfortunately due to the rather unusual design of the cable routing on the P9 headphones, it's not possible for an Axios cable to be made on this occasion.

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