Kimber Kable 8PR Speaker Cables
Kimber Kable 8PR Speaker Cables
USER REVIEWS
[Jan 13, 2011]
henry lee
Audio Enthusiast
Just finshed wiring my rear and centre channel's. I must say I have not had such a feeling of fullfillment such as this in quite a while. Took me a bit to completly finish wiring my whole system but I must say worth every cent. I have even surprised myself, I have just wiring my 4th pair of speaker's with kimber(9 in total). My vast array consist's of 8tc,8vs.8pr and tonik. KimberKable for life. Thanx Kimber |
[Feb 13, 2005]
ournewceleb
AudioPhile
Strength:
Great sound, great value whcih allowed me to bi-amp within going broke on speaker cables.
Weakness:
Rather bulky to terminate on your own, consider having it professionally done. There has been a lot said here, so I dont have too much more to add. I have been using these speakers cables for my center channel (biamped), and now I have also been using them for my two front speakers (also biamped). I replaced my old Cardas Crosslink (which was bi-wired). I noticed a huge improvement, which is both a function of the bimamping and speaker cable change, of course. Finally, I replaced my rear channel speaker wires and that was a huge revelation (improvement!) in sound. Great for music and movie. There may be better speaker cables out there if one explored the stratosphere but within this price range I love these cables. One final note, I decided to have these professional terminated, which made these very convenient. I agreemnt with some of the previous reviewers here that due to the number of wires and their bulk, it can be cumbersome to do yourself. Another key point I picked up on is at the store where I bought these, they were using this very cable in their "reference systems" even though they were selling other speakers cables that were far more expensive. That tells you something! Similar Products Used: Cardas Crosslink |
[Sep 22, 2004]
cappa69
Casual Listener
Strength:
Solid construction, designed for bi-wiring.
Weakness:
Difficult to terminate yourself. Buy pre-terminated if you can justify the cost. I've recently purchased a Yamaha RX-V2400 Receiver and a pair of Paradigm Monitor 11 speakers. Rest of my system consists of Yamaha K-903 Dual Deck Cassette player and a Sony Playstation for Games/DVD/CD playing. To start with I used the stock cable (18AWG) from my old system with the new system too. The lows, mids and highs were all muddy but still decent. I upgraded to Monster XP 16 AWG and I could see some improvement. I then upgraded again to Monster XP 12 AWG superflat and felt that the highs have become more defined while the base was a little punchier. After reading all the good reviews on this site for Kimber Kable 8PR I finally decided to give it a try. I got an un-terminated 10 feet pair of this cable from a local dealer. The previous Monster cables I tried were not bi-wired but I decided to bi-wire the Kimber 8PR. The results were good. I felt that the highs were more defined and closer to what I expected from my music system. The base was more punchy and less muddy. I'm a casual listner and not an audiophile but I could feel a subtle improvement in all frequencies. Even my wife who does not pay attention to music delivery quality ever made a comment that the vocals and drums were both playing better. This is somewhat of an apples to oranges comparison though. The monster cable was broken-in since it was used for a while while the Kimber 8PR was installed only yesterday and I'm sure that the 8PR will improve over time. Also, the monster was not bi-wired while Kimber 8PR was bi-wired at the speaker end so maybe some of this improvement was a result of bi-wiring. Overall I did feel that Kimber 8PR was reproducing the music better and once it is broken in, it will only get better. The cable is built solid and is heavy and thick. Insulation material is solid and the copper conductors are easy to twist and they stay in place when being pushed into the banana. This was a constant annoyance with Monster XP 12 AWG superflat that had very thin copper conductor strands that cannot be twisted to become firm and every time I pushed the Monster's ccopper conductors into the banana, they sagged. It is very difficult to terminate 8PR yourself so buy pre-terminated 8PR if you don't want to spend the time doing it yourself. I took a solid 2 hours to terminate a 10 feet pair myself with 2 bananas on amp side and 4 bananas on the speaker side. The cables come with some instructions on how to terminate it but I had to call Kimber's number in Utah to get more instructions. They're very helpful and informative. The wire is difficult to manipulate and my fingers were sore by the time I was done. I think it was well worth it though. Kimber is one of the few cables that are designed for biwire i.e. you don't have to buy two separate cables to bi-wire but rather separate the strands into two groups on one side to greate more terminations. This is a great benefit. Similar Products Used: Stock 18 AWG, Monster XP 16 AWG and Monster XP 12 AWG superflat. |
[Aug 28, 2003]
whiskeytango6
Casual Listener
Strength:
Price, I could hear a difference! Soundstage, bass separation, imaging.
Weakness:
At this price? I have always believed that the hype of cables and "room tuners" etc. was just voo-doo and advertising panache'. Well, I was enlightened! I am starting to upgrade my modest system (Onkyo reciever, Whafedale Emerald 97 speakers) to a super system thru the rest of this year into 2004. I purchased Kimber 8pr speaker cable in a 4 meter length just to see if I could hear any difference over the monster cable 10g I was using. I'm not an "audiophile", don't have a "reference system", just a guy with a decent stereo hookup. (Audio Alchemy cd transport and decoder). Know what? I could hear a difference, for the first time in my life I could hear a difference in the music! It was an "Oh my God" type of moment! The soundstage became wider, deeper. I used Windom Hill's "Solace" DVD as a test subject. The bass was at the forfront, separated, The persence of bongo's on "The Gift" by Jim Brickman suddenly lept out, I had never heard them before. The highs were a little harsh overall but after about 40 hrs. of burn in it had balanced out nicely. If your a regular guy like me who was skeptical then buy these cables and HEAR the difference. You will not be disappointed! Similar Products Used: Monster cable 10g |
[Oct 05, 2002]
biggarthomas
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Absolutely fabulous "sound", inexpensive - cost me about $3.00/ft, good-looking stuff. Clearly very good wherever you have a long run, a pretty good system, a nice home and do not want to mortgage it in order to string together your audio components.
Weakness:
None Well, I was skeptical about the difference that "wire" would make to my system. I have been using skinny wires that would be as unobtrusive as possible. Recently, when we moved to a different house, I was delighted to find that the previous owner ran his speaker cables under the living room floor, just as I had in my former home. But my old PSB speakers sounded flat and unappealing. I decided that I would get new speakers (I had been looking at speakers for 2 years). I settled on the KEF Q65.2s (see my review of these fabulous speakers). However, since the KEFs are bi-wireable, I decided to research new speaker cables. The reviews on this page and their availability helped me decide to buy the 8PRs. I also have a very long run of about 25ft between my speakers and system so cost was a factor. I connected the 8PR to my old PSBs while awaiting delivery of the KEFs. WOW!! Both my wife and I thought that we were listening to brand new speakers, had I screwed up - should I have gone to the expense of buying the KEFs? The dynamic range, tonality and everything else of the PSBs just jumped through the roof. We could not get enough of our "new" system. Then the KEFs arrived and I simultaneously purchased and hooked up a second Quad 303 power amp. Friends, I'm in audio heaven. I do not need a thing just more time to listen to my new system. I thought that my wife was going to use the 8PR to terminate me never mind the speakers. So now we have four great big cables lying around the perimeter of our living room (a place with a parlor like attitude). Lo and behold, we both like the look and feel of the cables they make a powerful statement. Similar Products Used: Cheap nasty stuff that I cannot even name |
[Jan 19, 2000]
Edward
Audiophile
Strength:
Overall sound
Weakness:
None I have had this cable in my system for a while now. Over a year, and thoughout that year I have tried to find a cable that could beat it near it price range and up to twice the cost but could not. So I guess I will have my 8PR and be happy. Similar Products Used: Tributaries |
[Jan 20, 2000]
James
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Everything
Weakness:
Nothing Great cable, great company, everything sounds just right now. Similar Products Used: Everything under $8.00/ft |
[Apr 06, 2001]
Yves Rochette
Audio Enthusiast
Weakness:
none When you need 18' ft. price is a relevant factor;the 8 pr was the best option available on the market and the sound is very clean,with a good natural bass. Similar Products Used: mit,monster |
[Nov 22, 2001]
lve
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
detailed open sound, very natural, good soundstage and very cheap
Weakness:
none with at price, are you kidding me. I've been using this for quite sometime now. Let say I'm a skeptic at things, I won't buy anything unless I have tried or auditioned it. I have tried several wires, including the qed silver genesis, which is by the way great sounding and one of the premier cables, but for the price of almost USD500, are you kidding me! Similar Products Used: ixos 604- biwire, 8tc, 6003 gamma, qed silver genesis |
[Dec 02, 1998]
Graham Moore
an Audio Enthusiast
I've had two 25' lengths of 8PR cable hooked into my system for about a month now, and have to say that it is the best tweak to come down the pike for my system in many years. Those of us that are forced by listening room layout to run long leads can't usually afford the astronomical sums being asked for good quality cables. Ray Kimber solved this problem years ago when he first sold this marvelous product, then somehow convinced us that more expensive cables are better. Not so, say I.My system consists of B&W 805 Matrix spealkers on custom stands, a Bryston 3B-ST, McIntosh C712 preamp, Audio Control Richter Scale EQ, and a CAL Labs CL-5 cd changer.Prior to the Kimber Kable this system sounded really good. Now it sounds so good that an audiophile friend just sat and grinned like a fool the first time he heard the new cables in operation. The top end is very smooth, open, and detailed (I didn't know that kind of detail existed in recorded music),and the bottom end is more controlled and well,there. Until I'm rich and foolish enough to spend $100/ft. for cable I will refuse to wire up my speakers with anything but 8PR. Before you lay out your hard earned cash for any other cable on the market, give this stuff a try. If you don't like it better than whatever else you try, you can give it to a budding audiophile friend, so that you can enjoy better sound when you visit them. I'm betting the friend will have to buy his own 8PR. |