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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

The Absolute Sound logo

Here’s a list of the award-winning cables:

Kimber 8TC and 12TC


Kimber 12TC speaker cable
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
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 1136
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
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
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.

The Absolute Sound















 

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