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Cable Asylum: REVIEW: Kimber Kable 4AG Cable by Luminator Interconnects, speaker wire, power cords. Ask the Cable Guys. |
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Cable Asylum: REVIEW: Kimber Kable 4AG Cable by Luminator Interconnects, speaker wire, power cords. Ask the Cable Guys. |
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75.25.148.121
Model: 4AG Category: Cable Suggested Retail Price: $700/stereo foot + $348 termination + cost of other connectors Description: speaker cable Manufacturer URL: Kimber Kable Model Picture: View
Review by Luminator on January 11, 2010 at 00:01:15
IP Address: 75.25.148.121Add Your Review
for the 4AG
As with all of my reviews here on Audio Asylum, you have to click on the links below first.
Storm Front
Consuming Impulse
A Girl In Trouble (Is A Temporary Thing)
Nightlife
Hell Freezes Over
Shocker
Gutter Ballet
Do They Know It's Christmas
Each day, I usually receive around six e-mails from audiophiles. Some have been in touch with me since the 1990s. But one guy wrote: “I like it when you take e-mails, and answer them on AA. Can you do a review, where that is all you do?â€
I wrote back, “I’m not sure if I can get enough of them to grant me permission. Most like dealing with me one-on-one. I’m not sure enough will want their words posted on AA.â€
He replied, “Well, you certainly have my permission!â€
It has taken me a while to build up enough “inventory†of quotes, but here goes nothing. At the end, let me know, either by posting on AA, or via e-mail, if you like or hate this style/format.
Audiophile 1: I like your blog, but I hate comic sans. Can you please use another font?
Lummy: According to Kimber Kable, the 4AG is not directional. So, if your cable has the same connectors at both ends, you are free to use it in any direction you prefer. However, once you establish signal flow in one direction, be sure to mark it off.
Audiophile 2: I am disappointed that there’s no nudity. I’m not going to read any more of your reviews, unless there’s nudity!
Lummy: LOL! He was referring to my review of the MIT S3.3 interconnect. If it is germane to the product, I am not afraid to use nudity. In the unholy trinity of sex, drugs, and rock & roll, you know I feature lots of the latter. But I have little or no expertise in drugs, so you will not see too many drug references in my reviews.
However, high-end audio is our drug of choice. When it comes to cables, you do not really get a feel for a cable’s true character, until and unless you have used many others as well. I am fortunate enough to have had many cables thrown my way. So, it behooves me to share those experiences.
Ahem. If you do not read through the review, how would you know if there is any nudity?
Audiophile 3: How does it [the 4AG] compare to the 4TC?
Lummy: First of all, Kimber, for many years, produced the 4TC with a blue and black color combination. It turns out that the blue and black dyes interfere with the cable’s performance. Current-production 4TC now uses a clear and white pattern. This version is significantly cleaner-sounding than the old blue and black model.
Basically, the only differences between the 4AG and current-production 4TC are: (a) the 4AG uses the clear Teflon throughout, and (b) the 4AG uses pure silver, rather than copper Vari-strand conductors.
Yet, the 4AG reveals that the 4TC falls short in the areas of midrange openness, overall freedom from grain, true revealing of instrumental tone and texture, soundstage dimensions, and focus and resolution at the frequency extremes.
Audiophile 4: Those WBTs are expensive. What about the [standard Kimber] banana?
Lummy: I have not seen the standard Kimber banana on a 4AG since, oh, 1996 or so. And that pair did not belong to my friends or me, so I cannot tell you how it fares on the 4AG. On the 4TC, the standard Kimber banana is more closed-in than the various WBTs. Also, the WBTs will better retain the music’s firmness and punch.
Audiophile 3: How does a Cooked 4TC compared to a 4AG which has not been Cooked?
Lummy: Believe it or not, the Cooked 4TC can sound warmer, smoother, less grainy than a raw 4AG. However, the untreated 4AG can still sound more open, transparent, and resolving.
Audiophile 5: I don’t know much about your music, but I looked some of them up on youtube, and now I know what you mean.
Lummy: Thanks for taking the time and effort to expand your musical palate. No two audiophiles have the exact same musical taste. When I reference music, I tell you a little about it. I tell you how it affects me, and what I look for, when an audio component or system reproduces it. So even if you are unfamiliar with my music, you can still take my experiences, and extrapolate from them if it is worth your time to investigate further the product.
Audiophile 5: My wife knows about the Eagles and Billy Joel. I bought her Hell Freezes Over for Christmas, but she already had it!
Lummy: That’s okay; it’s the thought that counts. I’m sure your wife would be confused, if she had to shop for speaker cables for you.
Audiophile 5: Well as you know, I’ve never been happy with the 8tc, and you’ve been telling me to “go down†to the 4tc. But what about the 8ag?
Lummy: Sorry, I have no experience with Kimber’s 8AG, so I am not at liberty to comment. I do not know how it compares to the 4AG, or any other speaker cable, for that matter.
Audiophile 5: Didn’t you say that the ks-3033 was lousy?
Lummy: Yes, I have stated that the Kimber KS-3033 was extremely disappointing. Warm and plodding, it was a complete waste of my time and money. The cheaper and easier-to-handle 4TC comes closer to the ideal of no cable at all. It does not take a high school freshman to realize that a < b < c, so the KS-1033 < 4TC < 4AG.
Audiophile 6: At first, I wondered why you made us click on the links. But when I did, I was treated to your lovely, entertaining, beautiful, and informative pictures. I can’t afford to travel to SF or Hawaii, but your pictures make me feel like a local. If you’re ever in St. Louis, let me know. You can take pictures of my humble system, but please, leave me out ☺
Lummy: Alas, now that I have two small children, I do not have the time, as I once did, to host audiophile gatherings. A part of me misses going out to meet other audiophiles, and partying! If you ever do come to the San Francisco Bay Area, there are so many things to do, so many sights to see. High-end audio should not be at the top of your to-do list.
“Professional†audio reviews do not show enough pictures. Nor do reviewers give enough insight to their lives. This information would give readers a better feel for how the product worked, under which circumstances, and how the reviewer was or was not moved. It is very dry, if I merely state that the 4AG did L, M, and N well, but not Q, R, and S.
Audiophile 7: The 4AG costs too much!
Lummy: My job as a reviewer is to arm you with enough information about the product, so that you can make a better decision. From time to time, I will divulge if I think a product has good value, but that is strictly my own opinion. It is up to you, to determine if a product is “worth it.â€
Audiophile 3: How does the 4AG compare to your [Wireworld] Platinum Eclipse and [Nordost] Odin?
Lummy: If you go from the Kimber 4AG to the Wireworld Platinum Eclipse, the sound will become less “fizzy.†The Platinum Eclipse will maintain the sense of scale better. Thus, small details remain small, while large sounds take up appropriately more space. The Nordost Odin is quieter, and even more transparent. It truly comes closer to the concept of “no cable at all.†It does not matter if you are using shitty equipment, or the best; the Odin’s lack of character flatters both. However, the 4AG can make it appear that the music has more “breath of life,†and some listeners will interpret that as being closer to “live.â€
Audiophile 8: Is Angel your favorite Madonna song? That is awesome! After I read that, I told my wife that I am no longer embarrassed about Whos [sic] That Girl being my favorite.
Lummy: In my review of the MIT S3.3, I did mention that I loved Madonna’s “Angel.†Is it my favorite? Well, there are so many great Madonna songs, why should we be forced to choose one favorite? And you know what? In the mid-90s, we did stick the 4AG on a mid-fi audio/video receiver. I forget what brand and model number that receiver was, but it had already sounded surprisingly enthusiastic with the Kimber 4TC. When we removed the 4TC, and put in the 4AG, the 4AG’s lack of grain, better organization, and higher resolving power all took the receiver to new heights. Yes, we were fully aware of the receiver’s shortcomings. But by refusing to muck up what was already there, the 4AG allowed us to focus on, and get swept away in, the music. Instead of harping on the sonic shortcomings, we were able to dig San Francisco’s K101. Again, by not getting hung up on the sonics, the 4AG allows us, regardless of system, to have fun “arguing†about which Madonna song we like best.
Audiophile 9: I’ve been following your reviews for a long time. They are da shit. Don’t you know we’re all voyeurs, and have to be fed soft core porn? They didn’t seem to get your MIT [S3.3] review. There wasn’t sex or naked chicks, so they were left hangin’. You gotta do a better job.
Lummy: One hot day in the summer of 1996, my friend Margaret [you’ve read about her in my other reviews] decided to go to San Francisco’s Baker Beach. In those days, when I wasn’t thinking about sports, I was fixated on high-end audio. I was probably vacillating between the Kimber KCAG and XLO Signature 1.1 and 2.1. The Kimber 4AG and XLO Signature 5.1 were simply out of reach for me, but that did not stop me from dreaming about them.
As Margaret parked, Ghost Town DJs’ “My Boo†was playing on the radio. When you hear the outro, you just want the laid back good times to go on forever…
Margaret and I found a spot to throw down a beach towel. She kicked off her slippers, pulled off her white t-shirt, un-hooked her white bra, and donned her shades. She said she was having her period, and thus did not wish to remove her black shorts. She sat with her knees up. Behind her shades, she observed that some kids, regardless of how much or little clothing they were wearing, freely dashed in and out of the frigid waters.
As I look back, and think of analogies, the Kimber 4AG is like those children enthusiastically enjoying running in and out of the water. The Kimber 4TC would be like a college-age girl wearing a bikini, and walking up and down the shore. The overly warm Kimber 8TC is like our friend Angie, who, even on a hot day, refuses to take off her long pants and windbreaker. The Kimber KS-3033 would be the fat dude who stopped at the top of the ridge, but did not come down to the beach.
Audiophile 10: You are a [expletive deleted]. And you can quote me on that!
Audiophile 9: When the hell are you gonna throw in the towel, and give us one of those lame ass 1 paragraph “reviews†which populate this forum?
Audiophile 11: Luminator – in your next review, can you use the music from the summer of 69?
Lummy: While I do love the popular music from the 60s, and cite it from time to time, I cannot give a biographical account of ’69, ‘cuz I was not yet born then. We’ll have to ask our elder Inmates, in their product reviews, to go back to 1969 [or any other time period of their choice].
Audiophile 8: Hey, what happened to Lummy The Seahorse?
Lummy: I recently attended my 20th high school reunion. After we graduated, the school revoked the Indian mascot. Removing the politically incorrect Indian is fine, but you should come up with something decent in his place. I suggested the Loch Monster. After all, the campus is located right across the street from Lake Merced. Wouldn’t it be awesome, if our mascot were some Nessie, crawling out of Lake Merced, and emerging from the fog? But noooooooooo, the school went with the weak-ass Cardinal bird. Phooey.
So, ever since the reunion, I decided to be…
-Lummy The Loch Monster
Product Weakness: current price is more than triple what it was when I originally saw the product; accumulated dust and dirt can be hard to remove/clean Product Strengths: flexible; pretty; available with a variety of connectors; short lengths make excellent bi-wire jumpers; older samples perform identically to current-production, but do use a proper burn-in device
Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier: numerous Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): numerous Sources (CDP/Turntable): numerous Speakers: numerous Cables/Interconnects: numerous Music Used (Genre/Selections): rock, pop, metal, R&B, Hawaiian, dance Time Period/Length of Audition: 15 years Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner
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Topic - REVIEW: Kimber Kable 4AG Cable - Luminator 00:01:15 01/11/10 ( 0)
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