The Kimber Sound
Contents
We have three cables in front of us. The Kimber Kable 8PR, the 12TC and the thick Monocle XL. The latter in particular has a nice “bling factor”. A cable that is sure to impress. Anyway: that’s not what cables are all about… or is it? Nicer rims under the car don’t drive better either… and yet we buy them, don’t we?
But if we are completely honest: the 12TC also looks very nice. The “naked finish” has something to it. You can see the nice and neat weaving, which is great to look at as well. It is also something different than all those tightly finished cables where you only look at a sleeve.
It is a bit like that plastic hood over the engine of a car. If an engine is beautifully made, it should be seen, right?
Depth of sound
Well… how do the cables sound? On average, it’s fair to say that a Kimber Kable sounds quiet. These are cables that don’t show any form of sharpness. You don’t have to expect roaring bass either. It’s all very much “through the middle”. And that is meant positively. Cables with a clear signature or cables that bring big differences do something and that’s not really the point of a transparent connection.
But back to the differences between these cables…. because of course there are differences!
One noticeable difference between the Kimber 8PR and the 12TC is the depth of sound. The 8PR clearly sounds a bit less rich than the 12TC. The Kimber 12TC simply shows a bit more tonal richness and depth than the 8PR. It is a bit flatter in tone as well as in dynamics for that matter.
The Monocle XL is a totally different story. It is clearly more nimble than the Kimber 12TC. The 12TC feels a bit more robust and rounder in tone. Both cables have a pleasant sound, where the 12TC tends more toward warmth and the Monocle XL tends more toward a lighter timbre. Do not confuse this with sharpness or a cold sound: it is not. In fact, the bass end goes plenty deep enough. The focus, however, is not in the (mid)bass. The focus has shifted to the mids and highs…..
We do find that the Monocle XL offers a bit more room for reverb and air and acoustic presentation in the music. It is simply a cable with more detail than the 12TC, although we don’t really miss anything with this significantly cheaper cable.
Bigger and more focussed
Where the Kimber Monocle XL clearly goes beyond the Kimber 12TC and VERY much further than the 8PR is in imaging. Anyone switching from a 12TC to a Monocle XL simply cannot ignore the fact that the stereo image grows enormously. The space of the recording is also more clearly audible.
Fortunately, this does not come at the expense of focusing. Everything stays neatly in place in the image. So it’s not “blown up” with a straw. We’re not big on that at Alpha Audio. It has to be right … And it does with this Kimber.
Rounding up
Well: are these cables worth the extra investment? We think the move from the Kimber Kable 8PR to the Kimber 12TC is very clear. The Kimber 12TC is simply a better cable. Those who can spend the money should definitely do so in our opinion.
The move from the Kimber Kable 12TC to the Kimber Monocle XL is different. The Monocle XL is a more audiophile cable; that’s for sure. The stereo image is clearly larger and the timbre is a bit lighter. The cable also shows more detail. However, this cable really needs to fit your system. If the system already has a cooler sound, we estimate that it is no longer pleasant, because the body and roundness can go out of the midrange.
