Audiophilepure

https://www.hifinews.com/content/kimber-kable-naked

Physically lightweight, Kimber’s Naked still packs as much experience and ‘technology’ into its fragile frame as you’ll find in any battleship interconnect. Here, oxidation-resistant solid-core conductors meet as ideal a dielectric as might practically be devised, and all without skewing the basic ‘lumped’ LCR parameters. While it’s as neutral and equipment-agnostic an interconnect as you’ll encounter, an in situ demo remains de rigueur.

https://www.monoandstereo.com/2022/01/nordost-valhalla-v2-ethernet-cable.html#more

I remember the days when kilobytes were considered solid gold in computer terms. This goes back to the early eighties when with all the difficulties included I’ve had the luxury of getting a Sinclair ZX81 computer. At the time we’d dreamed of kilobytes. Buying this precursor to the spectacle called the Sinclair ZX Spectrum was as daunting as buying the additional ZX81 16K RAM. It cost about the same. 

A lot has happened since then and in a relatively short time. Not only do we store gigabytes of data, but we send and receive it every minute. 

Kimber Kable Carbon Series 16 and Carbon 18XL Cables

Naturally, I couldn’t resist a “way-back machine” moment, so I hooked up my trusty 4VS (now part of Kimber’s Base Series) and listened in on one of my acoustic favorites, the Rutter Requiem. There’s a reason why these cables were and are so popular. Their rich smooth midrange and general tonal honesty are hard to beat. Nonetheless, in comparison to Carbon, the 4VS’s had a mildly subtractive sound, with a narrower soundstage, a bit less top-end air, and lighter and less well-defined bass. Transients were also not as quick. 

That said, what struck me most was the consistency of the Kimber’s voicing. There was nothing embarrassing about the performance of these 20-year old cables, which show a closer kinship to Carbon 8 than you might expect. 

The major impact of the Premium QKORE wires is purity of the high frequencies. Secondary effects include increased image mass, a boost in dynamics, and dialing in focus. On the subjective side, there’s more drama and impact.

I’m tempted to say the system is clean after installing Premium Wires everywhere, but I won’t fall into that trap again. You can be sure the RFI daemon lurks and will show up again after the next advance goes in, whatever that might be. That there will be a next advance is extremely likely, as RFI combating is on the frontlines.

Considerable thought and care has gone into the design of these cables. On its website, Clarus, or, to put it more precisely, Jay Victor, the chief engineer of the company, explains in detail the methodology that he has employed to construct them, including the use of three different oxygen-free copper conductors for the bass, midrange, and treble frequencies, all manufactured with Ohno Continuous Casting. While a white paper on the company’s website discusses in detail different approaches to constructing cables, it is (understandably) coy about the geometry it employs, other than to remark, “These are not simple cables, and many years of experiments and research went into their development. The conductor geometry itself is quite unique and complex, and there is nothing similar on the market.”

https://www.audiophilia.com/reviews/2021/4/21/ovlq03ykci2h3x4enjdvyikqx79y98

The loom was more than complete, which means all cables in my reference system could be replaced with Valhalla 2s except the ethernet cable used from my DAC. Plugging in and attaching such a valuable and beautifully-made set of cables gave me a bit of a thrill. And this before one note was played. Long time readers will know my associated reference components, all reviewed in Audiophilia. Valhalla 2 power cables were used on everything, interconnects between my Allnic preamp and MBL amp and as phonos between my Bergmann Magne Turntable and the preamp. Speaker cables with bananas attached the Alta loudspeakers to my amp. Power conditioning and outlet hardware by Audioquest. This is a system that resides in rarefied air—the cables and attached components did not embarrass one another.

I looked around, searching for a better understanding. My gaze takes in my beloved YG Acoustics Anat Signature loudspeakers. Dynamic driver speakers do so many things excellently, but they are not noted for having a full-bodied midrange and the sweetest treble. Then I shift to the array of CH Precision components. I’m sure they all measure beautifully on the test bench in Switzerland, but flat response in the lab is no guarantee of what will happen in my room. Either of these may be complicit, but it’s unlikely.

I settle on the room itself. This is the big one. Sound behavior in a real room always presents issues. Now, I’m going to surprise you by suggesting that the second biggest challenge for the audiophile is RF pollution. Oh, man, it’s all over—the modern domicile is a swamp. No one grasps the full extent, but, from what I’ve read, it’s easy to imagine RFI could be responsible for an artifact-laden treble and a blurry, or thin, midrange. (It’s a working hypothesis, at any rate.)

https://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/equipment-menu/1045-siltech-classic-legend-680l-speaker-cables

While I’m not generally into cables or tweaks, Siltech’s Classic Legend 680L speaker cables captivated me. Yes, their build quality is excellent, their materials clearly first-rate, and Siltech’s corporate narrative emphasizing measurements and iterative improvements in metallurgy is compelling.

But for an audio component to earn my highest recommendation, I must be able to hear its contributions to my system’s ability to re-create the sounds of the music I love. Siltech’s Classic Legend 680L speaker cables gave me a lot of such contributions to hear. Their ability to reduce low-level distortion and artifacts below what my lower-cost copper cables could manage was as enjoyable as it was surprising.

https://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/equipment-menu/1045-siltech-classic-legend-680l-speaker-cables

While I’m not generally into cables or tweaks, Siltech’s Classic Legend 680L speaker cables captivated me. Yes, their build quality is excellent, their materials clearly first-rate, and Siltech’s corporate narrative emphasizing measurements and iterative improvements in metallurgy is compelling.

But for an audio component to earn my highest recommendation, I must be able to hear its contributions to my system’s ability to re-create the sounds of the music I love. Siltech’s Classic Legend 680L speaker cables gave me a lot of such contributions to hear. Their ability to reduce low-level distortion and artifacts below what my lower-cost copper cables could manage was as enjoyable as it was surprising.