Kimber Kable

Kimber Kable has introduced three new models of loudspeaker cables at the very top of their Select series. These new cables, KS-6063, KS-6065, and KS-6068, are based on a combination of the best properties of their 3000-series models and the legendary Black Pearl 88 cable from the 1990's. To understand what the 6000 series is all about, it is helpful to understand the design of the Model 88, as well as the design of the current 3000 series Select cables.

The Black Pearl Model 88 was the ultimate effort from Ray Kimber, and a lot of its technology has been incorporated into the new 6000 series cables.  The Black Pearl had tubing down its middle that was filled with lead shot. This gave it great mechanical damping but made it stiff and obviously, very heavy.  That lead tube was the core around which 25 gauge, perfect surface, solid-core, silver was braided.  Ultimately the Model 88, despite its high price tag, was to difficult and too costly to manufacture to remain a viable product.

The 3000 series uses a newly-developed core material that is lighter, more flexible, and sounds better than the lead core that was used in the model 88.  It is essentially a type of rubber that is impregnated with carbon molecules that act like ferrite beads to absorb radio frequency (RF) noise and electromagnetic interference (EMI).  This gives Select cables the mechanical damping of the Model 88 and also serves to quell any RF or EMI. This core material is patented and is called X38R.  Around that core are woven vari-strand conductors of copper or silver. Vari-strand is a technology that employs many small strands with different diameters grouped together into a single bundle. This geometry diminishes the deleterious ringing that occurs when strands of conductors with the same diameter are grouped together and resonate. Electrostatic Dissipative (ESD) Yarn, another patented material Kimber Kable uses to reduce electrostatic interaction among conductors, is also woven in with the vari-strand conductors. The 3000-series cables are available in all copper (3033), a mix of copper and silver (3035), and all Silver (3038).

So what are 6000-series Select cables? They are similar to 3000-series cables, but, instead of braiding vari-strand conductors around the X38R core, Kimber Kable braids solid-core conductors around the core and then braids vari-strand conductors around the outside.  ESD yarns are also incorporated throughout. Essentially, a 6000-series cable is an updated Model 88 combined with a 3000-series cable. The 6000-series cables combine the sonic strengths of vari-strand and solid-core conductors to yield performance superior to what can be obtained with either conductor type alone. Furthermore, the additional quantity of conductors one obtains by adding the solid-core conductors to the vari-strand conductors also improves performance.

The results are simply the best cables that Kimber Kable has ever produced. The noise floor drops down to an almost non-existent level and inner details abound. No other cable is as open or extended, and this extension occurs with a relaxed, involving sound that never gets fatiguing.

The 6063 (all copper) model costs $3,800 per 6 ft. pair, the 6035 (copper/silver hybrid) model cost $6,500 per 6 ft. pair, and the 6068 (all silver) model costs $14,700 per 6 ft. pair.