Kimber PBJ, Part 5

Posted by Luminator (A) on July 16, 2022 at 20:03:02

During Fall 1998, let's say you were working in San Francisco's Financial District. Ultimate Sound, a Kimber Kable dealer, was just a few blocks from FiDi. You had new Kimber Select products, including the KS-2020 digital coax; KS-1030 and KS-1130 interconnects; and KS-3033 speaker cable. You no longer needed your old PBJ. You could give the PBJ to relatives, many of whom did not live in the Bay Area. The PBJ was so small and light, you could carry it with you, as you visited those relatives.

Chris Isaak lived in SF's Sunset District, and had a new album, Speak Of The Devil. As always, his music put you and 3 girlfriends in the mood to drive down to LA/OC/SD. Some of you had gone to SoCal colleges. Some of you had friends and relatives in SoCal.

When you got to the hotel, you caught the end of ESPN's Sportscenter. After that, there was nothing on, so you left it on VH1 or MTV. Rare for the late-90s, they played a few music videos. And that's when you saw one for Chris Isaak's "Please." Exceedingly rare for the time, it featured an Asian woman.

You gave a Kimber PBJ to your uncle, who used it between a mass market CD player and A/V receiver.

At the time, Los Angeles did not have an NFL team. So your uncle half-heartedly cheered for the Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, and San Francisco 49ers. While he watched football on TV, your aunt took you and her two daughters (your cousins) out. You liked not having to pay for a meal.

But uh-oh, your aunt gave your younger cousin the silent treatment, admonition for something (but not sex/birth control) the latter did or did not do.

You and your 3 girlfriends then went to the OC. One reminisced about her time at UC Irvine. The sunsets had a brassy sheen.

Okay, let us compare the single-ended versions of Kimber's PBJ, Timbre, and Silver Streak. Prices have gone up. 1-meter pairs are now $148 (PBJ), $198 (Timbre), $576 (Silver Streak).

The PBJ is good, but perhaps its most noticeable imperfection is the roll-off of the top octave and portion of the soundstage. It's kind of like when you were at the restaurant with your aunt and cousins. Not wanting to come between her mom and sister, but sitting between them, your older cousin put her head down. When her mom and sister spoke, she could clearly hear, but was impervious to the surroundings, including the lighting, background music, and server.

Instead of resolving fine details, the Timbre casts a warm and sunny glow over the music. And it does so, from top to bottom. It's like those golden coastal California sunsets, obscuring your view of fine details.

Versus the PBJ and Timbre, the Silver Streak clearly is more open, transparent, and wide-bandwidth. But that openness also doesn't hide the images not being as anchored and firmly-positioned, as they should be. It reveals a softness in the mid bass. At times, your head and body waver. It's like the end of the Chris Isaak "Please" video, leaving you with a "Huh?" reaction.

Physically, the PBJ, Timbre, and Silver Streak are similar/alike. But their sonics are different from each other. The Silver Streak clearly is more resolving and accurate. It will restrain or hold back a good system less than the other two. If you have such a system, you might find the cost, steep as it is, to be worth going up to Silver Streak.

But if you have a more modest system, and perhaps one with a rising top octave, you just might prefer to spend less, and get the PBJ. Is your long-term goal/intention to get one of Kimber's Select series interconnects? Then it really makes sense, to start with PBJ. You can then enjoy what you have now, and wait until you can afford the Select series, or find a good deal on used samples.

-Lummy The Loch Monster

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Topic - Kimber PBJ, Part 5 - Luminator 20:03:02 07/16/22 (3)

RE: Kimber PBJ, Part 5 - fantja 22:41:13 08/22/22 (0)

Hi Lummy! - oldmkvi 06:42:19 07/18/22 (1)

PBJ was the very first product to go on our Cooker - Luminator 07:24:24 07/18/22 (0)

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