Review: Kimber PBJ Interconnect

Category: Cables

This is a near legendary interconnect. It's price to performance ratio is very high, and the parts quality is excellent, using "varistrand" high purity copper in teflon, in a three wire braid with one signal conductor and two returns. The RCA connectors are proprietary machined Kimber connectors with "ultraplate" plating. Compared to the radioshacks... well, there is no comparison. Better quality parts and design lead to better clarity, articulation, dynamics, and imaging. The Monster ICs (several shielded types) all fell short in all aspects as well, despite pricing in line with the PBJ. These were only slightly better than the radioshacks, and not worth the price at all. The PBJ sounded very fast and open, and seems to be quite revealing. Unfortunately, many systems may have their harsh qualities revealed, and a warmer IC may help mask these problems better than the PBJ, but in a system that can handle it, these are excellent low cost RCAs. They do not compare to the Kimber Select line, nor should they, being WAY less expensive. These are, as a reputed reviewer says, reference wire you can afford. They are great, and the wire is of such high quality that you don't even think of upgrading just to get better materials, unless you're going to silver. Very good cable indeed.

Associated gear
B&W DM 605 s2
Bottlehead ForePlay
EAD DSP-1000 DAC

Similar products
Low level Monster products, Radioshack gold, DIY