'Big and bold' Kimber Kable loom

The thick Kimber 12TC speaker cables deserve all the praise.

It is not without justification that the Kimber 12TC speaker cable has been highly praised and has picked up so many awards.


Once I pressed play on the CD player after adding the Kimber 12TC to the sonic equation, I realised that it was a winner.


The sound was big and bold, rich and on the warm side of neutral, smooth and soothing. Images were stable and dense without being too etched-out. Bass was full and deep, the mid-range was natural sounding without excessive sibilance and the highs were quite extended.


As I said earlier, its reputation as a high-quality speaker cable is justified.


The 12TC is a very thick cable with numerous strands of solid core wires of varying gauges woven together in a braid. The aggregate wire size is two 8 AWG conductors and the new Teflon dielectric in white and transparent gives the cable a very striking look.


I had with me three Kimber products from Hi-Way Laser in SS2, Petaling Jaya. They were the 12TC, Silver Streak interconnects and PK14 power cord.


Of the three, the one that had the most impact on the sound quality was the Kimber 12TC speaker cables which were used to link the Bryston 4B SST to the ATC SCM40 floorstanders.


Plugging in the others simply improved the sound quality by incremental steps with the PK14 power cord being the least impactful.


The Silver Streak uses silver and copper conductors woven into a tri-braid. The signal wire is made of the same hyper-pure, VariStrand silver found in the KCAG while the ground comprises hyper-pure VariStrand copper. High quality WBT RCA plugs are included.
The Silver Streak displays the 'family' sound of Kimber - big and bold, smooth and rich. 

Kimber Silver Streak interconnects.

Compared with other (more expensive) interconnects it was not as detailed or transparent or holographic, but at its price point it is a commendable performer.


As for the PK14 power cord, I found out that it was not suitable for power amps - I noticed that dynamics were restricted when I used it to power the Bryston.


There were no issues when I used the PK14 to power the Melos SHA-1 headphone amp/preamp, the Roksan Caspian CD player or even the Benchmark DAC1 Pre.


Along the way, I bought a used Kimber PK10 and quickly compared it with its thinner and cheaper sibling.

Kimber PK14 power cord.

Immediately I could hear that the PK10 was superior - it did not restrict dynamics when used with the power amp; the bass became stronger when powering the power amp or preamp; and the depth of the soundstage improved when powering the preamp.


My advice is this - if you can afford it, buy the PK10 for all your components. Its tonal balance is neutral, the bass is powerful and the soundstage improves.


Combining the Kimber PK10 power cord with the Kimber 12TC speaker cables in your system will surely change the sound quality for the better.