Kimber Monocle XL, Part 3
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| Posted on May 25, 2024 at 15:06:40 | ||
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Posts: 7653
Location: Bay Area Joined: December 11, 2000 |
My high school friend, Theresa, was ethnically Vietnamese. But she could pass as Filipino or Hispanic. During the Spring 1987 semester, we'd meet up with friends at various San Francisco neighborhoods. At one taqueria, people would come up to Theresa, and speak to her in Spanish. Problem was, Theresa spoke English and Vietnamese, and was taking French. Fortunately, some in our group did take Spanish, and could make out what people were saying. Anyway, I don't recall the restaurant, but at one, we had a fried banana for dessert. And for some of my friends, this was their first time eating a fried banana. Theresa was born in the U.S., but remarked that fried banana was a common dish in Southeast Asia. At the time, our families only had mass market electronics and speakers. Almost all came with those awful terminals, where you insert bare wire, and then close the tab. However, my family and Theresa's family had Monster speaker cables, terminated with pins. During the Fall 1991 quarter, I bought a Muse Model 100 power amp, my very first component with binding posts. However, my speakers (Paradigm 5SE and Pinnacle PN-5+) still had those lousy push-in-and-close tabs. In late 1993, I bought a Signet SL-280 B/U, my first speaker with binding posts. At the time, Theresa was a student at San Francisco State, so it was relatively easy for her to take Muni Metro, cross town, and meet me at Powell Street station. We went to Ultimate Sound, which were in their last weeks on Kearny. I didn't know any better, and ordered AudioQuest Indigo with spades. When the Indigo arrived, Theresa and I had a very difficult time, routing it to the Muse Model 100's binding posts. The amp's sharp edges scratched her forearm. At the other end, I had a bear of a time, forcing the Indigo's spades onto the Signet's countersunk binding posts.  Having learned our lesson, in 1994, we went back to Ultimate Sound, and ordered a discrete bi-wire Kimber 4TC (back then, it was black-and-blue, not clear-and-white), but this time with all bananas. Theresa and other friends could not believe how easy it was, to use banana plugs.  In the late-90s, Theresa was living and working in SoCal. When I visited her, the Redondo Beach area was foggy! She joked that I had brought San Francisco with me. Anyway, at this time, I opted for the Kimber Select KS-3033 over their own Monocle XL. At the time, both models could be had with WBT-0645 locking bananas. These good-sounding bananas had a hole behind them, so that, if you needed to bi-wire, you could add/stack another banana-terminated speaker cable.  Current-production Monocle XL can be ordered with WBT-0661 (1/4") spades, WBT-0681 (5/16") spades, or WBT-0610 locking bananas. The WBT-0610 replaces the old WBT-0645. One main goal of the WBT-0610 was to reduce the percentage of metal. However, we feel that the WBT-0610 doesn't sound as (a) crunchy and (b) contrasty and full-bodied in the treble, as the WBT-0610.  Another step back is that the WBT-0610 does not have a hole behind it. We no longer can stack another banana-terminated cable.  The Monocle XL's leads are about 4" long. Note that red, which uses TC conductors, is positive; and white, which uses VS conductors, is negative.  Modern-day Monocle XL now comes with a metal collar, from which the leads extend. The other side of the collar (a) lists the serial number, and (b) sports a signal direction arrow. -Lummy The Loch Monster
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