PBJ Audiograde review
Wednesday, 11th June 2025
First out of the blocks to review the updated PBJ analogue interconnect from KIMBER KABLE® is Andrews Simpson of online Hi-Fi magazine Audiograde.
Having outlined the history of PBJ, its legendary status amongst U.S. audiophiles, the ‘PBJ’ naming convention (Peanut Butter & Jelly) and its impressive build quality, Andrew reflects on just how good the cable looks:
“In the hand these cables feel top quality, especially at this price. So much so, if they cost double, I’d still have typed that last line”.
In fact, so striking was the look of the cable, Andrew reports, that even his teenage son couldn’t help admitting how nice they looked - high praise indeed!
Performance
Moving on to the nitty gritty of the review, he reflects on how well the cable ‘gets out of the way’, in the sense that it does a great job of always remaining neutral in its presentation.
“There’s a sense that its focus is purely on delivering the analogue signal unaltered, as cleanly as it can without imparting a character of its own along the way”, he says.
Testing the cable whilst listening to a 24bit/44kHz stream of Fever by Long Distance Calling, Andrew describes how the piece provides a great test, offering up a bit of everything you could want from a test track — from wide-ranging dynamics to “rapid percussion and layered atmospheric keyboards”.
PBJ does a great job of preserving the integrity of the piece. It leaves everything in place exactly where it should be in the mix, adding nothing and taking nothing away, whilst still revealing “the track’s foreboding drama that keeps you on the edge of your seat”.
Moving onto a second track, this time Water Underground by Real Estate (24bit/96kHz via Tidal), PBJ reveals an “analogue warmth” to the rhythm guitar “that’s a step up from [Andrew's] usual budget cables” and “instrument and vocal separation are also exceptional for a cable at this price”, drawing you deeper into the subtleties and nuances of the track.For the final track, he moves onto the 2023 album Before And After, a live recording from the 78-year-old Neil Young, via a 24-bit/96kHz stream from Qobuz. It’s an intimate, reflective, acoustic-based recording which the PBJ manages to convey superbly. “Those seemingly simple guitar strums and Young’s aged vocals”, for example, “sound pure, honest and laden with feeling” with the cable in place.
Andrew is clearly enamoured with Kimber PBJ and describes a cable which he feels performs well beyond its modest cost.
In one sense, that’s not so surprising, given that PBJ uses materials which you would only really expect to find in far higher-end offerings. But it’s especially the way PBJ manages to remain so transparent and lay bare the emotional nuances of music that really belies its ‘budget’ price.
Andrew summarises it well:
“In a nutshell the PBJ is a great sounding cable with great build quality and at a great price.”
Media: audiograde.uk, online magazine
Publication date: June 2025
Verdict: Best Value
CLICK HERE TO BUY PBJ
Written By Simon Dalton
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