Realistic, open soundstage. Completely neutral to my ears!

None as of yet...

As I was slowly upgrading my stereo system over the years, improving one component after another for the most life-like sound possible, one critical part that I never gave too much thought about always remained the same throughout the transformation, and that was the interconnects and speaker cables. Like so many others, I always assumed that cable was cable, and continued to use the standard RCA "wires" that came along with the components (if they failed, I'd replace the failed wire with Radio Shack's standard interconnects). The same applied to speaker cable...when I purchased my JBL L112 Century II monitors back in 1983, a free 20' pair of the Original Monster Cable was included! This was good enough for me, or so I thought.

Only a few years ago did I start to take notice the heated debate over cable design and the philosophy behind it, so I decided to take a chance and purchase several pairs of interconnects (see my review at this web site on MIT Terminator 2 audio cables). Pleased with the outcome of my purchase, I replaced all my interconnects...WOW, what a difference cables can make! When I finally replaced my JBL monitors with a pair of Magnepan MGLR1 loudspeakers in '97, I continued to use the Monster Cable, and the sound was creditable. After upgrading all my interconnects in my entire system and hearing a major difference in overall sound quality, now was the perfect time to replace my speaker cable!

My brother worked at a high-end audio salon (now defunkt), and was able to aquire a demo pair of 9 AWG Space & Time "garden-hose" size speaker cable for next to nothing! He had no use for them in his home theatre, so I connected them to my system...WOW, what a difference speaker cables make! The Maggies sounded more airy and open, the resolution of details was increased dramatically, and imaging improved 100%...the only problem was the Space & Time cables were cut to less than 6', and they were too tight a fit (one of the banana plugs to the right loudspeaker kept popping out of it's connector)! My brother then gave me a free pair of used 10' MIT Terminator 2 speaker cables, which were dynamic cables! Nontheless, they just weren't as detailed as the "garden-hose", so I searched again and read rave reviews on 9 AWG Kimber Kable 8TC speaker cable. I ordered a 10' pair on Audio Advisor's web site, hooked them up to my Maggies, and after their burning-in period, sounded even better than the "garden-hose!"

Maybe I have the right combination of components, and the 8TC's ability to project that openess reflects this combination! There's more air, more presence to my favorite music...the soundstage is even more expanded and hightened than with any of the other cables I used. Details spring out at you, the softest and most explosive dynamics are even more pronounced and life-like, and improved richness and clarity make my amp/loudspeaker combination perform better than ever! I actually hear a major difference in cable design; I'm a believer now in cable technology, and for the bargain price I paid overall for this cable philosophy, my latest equipment purchases are improved ten-fold!

Similar Products Used:

Monster Cable, MIT, and Space & Time.

Everything from the lows to the highs, imaging, etc is great.

Not A LOT better than 4tc, but the improvement is significant. I'll explain.

Before I bought this cable, 4TC was what I was using in my music system, until I decided to put the 4tc on my HT system: Hence the reason for me to even consider getting new cable. I considered DH-Labs T-14, until I found a GREAT deal on 8TC here in town. I noticed that 8TC is what many compare to the DH-Labs and being that I am already a fan of Kimber wires I figured I couldn't go wrong. After installation, I immediately noticed better image focus and inner detail in the music. I can see why some people feel this cable adds warmth, but after letting it burn-in awhile the warmth goes away. It has all the strengths of 4TC plus more!!!

Note: I have the 8TC internally biwired, which I am sure is responsible for some the positive effects over the 4TC which wasn't biwired.

Overall, I think if you're not planning on biwiring just get 4TC. I think it is the best budget cable around. However, if you have a little extra $$$, get the 8TC internally biwired (if you have biwirable speakers of course). I think the 8TC (and perhaps the DH Labs T-14 biwired- haven't tested though) represent/s about the best you can get until you get into the cables that are $20-$25 per foot.

Similar Products Used:

Audioquest Type 4. Kimber 4TC.

Focus, Balance, Deep Bass Control

High-End Softness, a Touch too Warm

Let me first state that I'm using the 8tc in a FULL RANGE setup. Overall, I'm pleased with the improvement over the Monster Z2.

The Monsters gave a forward sound to highs. The 8tc balanced the sound within the depth plane; Cymbals sound like they are in the same location with snares instead of always being thrusted forward. However, I find the highs to be a touch dull in comparison to the Monsters. Overall, I prefer the 8tc's high-end presentation to the Monsters, being smoother and less gritty.

Piano sounds more realistic with greater harmonic richness. Even the lowend of the piano is filled with more color.

Separation is much better, making big band and orchestra sound more textured and nuanced. Without a doubt, this is the best cable I've used at allowing a focused and cohesive sound field. Soundstage forwardness and depth has expanded slightly as well.

The Monsters always created a touch too much mid-bass bloat, boominess you might say. The 8tc tightens things up and allows for more low-end insanity to take place at even deeper depths.

The only real downside to 8tc's is that they may present a touch too much warmth, even with my lean sounding NHT's. That might be a problem with euphonic sounding speakers like B&W's.

A high value rating for a high-end speaker cable is insane, but compared to the Monster Z2, the Kimber 8tc gives you more for your money I believe.

Similar Products Used:

Monster Z2 Reference