Review: Kimber Kable Silver Streak Interconnect

I went from the Kimber select to the silverstreaks, and although the soundstage is more open, the cable seems a little harsh to me.Listening to sax, and some vocals seem just a little shrill and anoying to me ears. Maybe i have been listening to the selects too long. Just how i see it. Rather HEAR it.

just built a system with the kgac's and after a some break in time on the cables, all the harshness went away. all i can say now is the imaging is exceptional with a wide deep soundstage. the speakers tend to disappear from the room. now its all about finding great recordings. no analog here though. here's an e-mail i got from kimber-if anyone cares

Thank you for your inquiry. Kimber Kable products generally sound great right out of the package. However, Kimber Kable speaker cables do take approximately 50 hours to begin sounding more like their original design objectives, after which continued improvement is realized over the next several hundred hours. Kimber Kable interconnect cables begin to sound more like we intended after about 100 hours of significant signal flow. They continue to improve over the next 500 hours or more of use. Burn-in time varies due to the design and the materials used as well as the location within your system and the signal strength involved. The higher the systems overall quality, the more the effects of a longer burn- in period will be realized.

With our considerably equipped test facility we have been able to measure the effects of burn-in. Our research has led us to believe that burn-in is an altering of the dielectric as well as the possibility of the metal having an altered state. The voltage present in a signal has the ability to slightly alter the dielectric properties of the insulation.One analogy that has been used to describe burn-in is that of water flowing down a river. As the water flows down the river, the small stones that line the bed of the river are smoothed over in the direction of the water flow. The water finding the path of least resistance. Many books have been written on dielectrics and conductive materials without a definitive theory on burn-in having been established. Measurements and microscopic analysis have brought us closer to truly understanding this very real phenomenon, however making definitive statements on this topic may still be a bit misguided at this point in time.

Sincerely,

Todd Walldorf
Product Support & Sales
KIMBER KABLE

Update on the Silver streaks. They have been settling down the more I listen to them. They seem to be a little smother now. I switched back to the Selects last night & it sounded like I threw a blanket over the speakers. I think i am satisfied with the streaks! Thanks Kimber.

My KCAG sounded best after I used a cable burner for a week. No harshness after that. Mike

I used 2 prs of 1m Silver Streaks terminated with WBT-0144 on one set and with Swiss Nutriks on the 2nd pair. I found the imaging first rate and deep, almost an etched quality to the soundstage. Though as you pointed out the cables proved hot. They never warmed up in my system. In fact I found them substantialy bass shy vs. the Hero's they replaced. Where the Streaks excelled in imaging and presence, the Hero was harsh and unfocused. On the other hand, the Hero was warm in the mids to upper bass and downright powerful and fast in the lower notes. I sold the Silver streak rapido... put the Hero's back in, until recently when I started a/b'ng Straightwire line including Virtuoso "R" & Serenade--Awesome.