STEREOPHILE RECOMMENDED COMPONENTS AWARDS 2025
Tuesday, 25th March 2025
The 2025 edition of Stereophile magazine's annual ‘Recommended Components’ awards features stand-out products from every category of Hi-Fi. The cables section highlights five selections from the Kimber range: Hero Cu with WBT-0114 Cu plugs, PBJ analogue interconnects, 8TC speaker cable & Orchid digital interconnect.

The Stereophile Recommended Components list is a joint effort by the magazine’s collection of reviewers, most notably Technical Editor John Atkinson. It’s important to note that the “ratings take into account not only what [they] heard during the review period but also continued experience with the product (if any) after the formal review has been published”.
This means that, where possible, inclusion is the result of long-term experience with the product rather than just a short review period.
Here’s a list of the award-winning cables:
Kimber PBJ

Kimber PBJ with UltraPlate phono plugs - the 'original' Kimber interconnect
PBJ was Kimber’s first interconnect, the result of a suggestion from Russ himself! Recendtly re-introduced into our range, due to popular demand, we also offer PBJ as a DIN interconnect and as the basis for our AC and DC link cables.
"With the PBJs in his system, SM [Sasha Matson] heard greater clarity, detail, depth, and presence… muscular, insistent, and precise”
Click here to view PBJ
Click here to view PBJ DIN
Click here to read the Audiograde review
Kimber Hero Cu with WBT-0114 phono plugs

Kimber Hero Cu analogue interconnect with WBT-0114 Cu phono plugs
Hero Cu has not been officially reviewed in Stereophile but was previously used in reviewing by Jon Marks in his column "The Fifth Element" and has impressed so much as to be included in the Recommended Components list.
Click here to view Hero Cu
Click here to read the Hi-Fi Choice review of Hero Cu with WBT-0114 Cu phonos
Kimber 8TC

Kimber 8TC speaker cable with Kimber banana plugs
Like Hero Cu above, 8TC has not been officially reviewed in Stereophile but was previously used in reviewing by Jon Marks in his column "The Fifth Element" and has impressed so much as to be included in the Recommended Components list.
Click here to view 8TC
Click here to read the Hi-Fi+ review of 8TC
Kimber Orchid

Kimber Orchid digital interconnect with studio-grade XLR plugs with silver-plated contacts
Using the finest materials and proprietary technology, Kimber keep the secrets of Orchid close to their chests, and understandably so; this is an exceptional cable, able to bring a smile to even the harshest analogue-centric critic of ‘digital sound’.
“Expensive, but the best AES/EBU link JA [John Atkinson, former editor] has used” Another reviewer suggests that Orchid is "Probably the best out there for now... a stunner!"
Click here to view Kimber Orchid
Written By Simon Dalton