Kimber’s Hero interconnects are constructed from four of their highest grade copper conductors ‘Hyper Pure Copper’ and utilise their GyroQuadratic™ four weave structure and Dual fluorocarbon dielectric insulating technology. Terminated with Kimber’s Ultraplate RCA plugs there is also the option to upgrade to WBT’s Nextgen plugs for superior performance. The set reviewed here are the standard Ultraplate versions.

Construction wise the cables, made by hand, are very well finished, seem to possess good strain relief and the branding on the heatshrink is stylish looking giving a good fit and feel to the finished product. Packaging is a plastic transparent snap together carton.
There are many interconnects offered by Kimber and I have heard a fair few of them during my time, although I haven’t heard the Heros, so when they came through for review I was pleased that it was for a cable to which I had no prior experience with.

THE SOUND

First impressions of the Hero are extremely positive with a vibrant yet silky top end that conveys excitement, drama and poise. The midband is clean and clear and bass is tight and detailed.

After a 48 hour session on the Blue Horizon Proburn cable cooker levels of coherence increased as well as instrument separation.

My listening tests with artists such as Christina Aguilera’s powerful range, Loreena McKennit and Diana Krall conveyed terrific emotion and projection of vocals which had outstanding balance and poise for a cable of this price. What struck me as a point to note was the space that vocals imaged from. Instead of the midrange sitting inbetween the speakers and throwing forward a tolerable clean sound I was impressed by how the sound emerged from a deeper space and grew to compliment the pitch and tone of the artist.

Male vocalists were much the same if not a little thinner in the lowest registers where the Kimber Hero remains tight and controlled other more advanced cables will allow for more body and presence without bloating the sound.

Strings and piano also fell that tiny bit short for me for the same respect, although higher notes sparkled with great clarity but then as my speakers are tight and controlled anyway there was no need for the extra control from the Heros, although when I placed a set of single driver 1/4 wave transmission line speakers into the system the Kimber’s were fantastic at adding a more reference type informative sound in the lower regions taking the bass to another level conveying perceivably more information, especially in the upper bass.

The overall sound character is very well controlled and detail is rich and vibrant, there’s not much the Hero will not put across in its coherant and lively manner and for speakers that would normally accompany a consumer buying cables at this price I can see them being a treat to have in a system. My mind immediately reflects on B&W’s and PamC mid priced speakers…

With an Arcam rPac Dac into my Focal CMS40 active desk speakers the vibe I got was extremely engrossing and somewhat intoxicating. The Kimber’s livened up the Arcam somewhat and gave a emphatic punch to the actives as well as producing a beautifully silky top end that made for hours of enjoyable near field listening.

Dance music with each system really gave the impression of solid soundstaging, mixing electronically symphasized music always allows for the benefit of manipulating and showing off a system when it comes to three dimensionality and the Hero’s as well as giving their signature excitingly lively sound breached the boundaries of the room without becoming vague.

CONCLUSION

The Hero seems to be a staple for Kimber, at a price point that doesn’t clear the bank account and a level of performance that makes it extremely listenable and somewhat exciting, it’s no doubt that sales are already strong for this cable.

Not mentioned above was how well the Hero deals with Rock music, their silky top end takes away over-shine and their controlled bottom end eeks out all the detail of the lowest notes.

So, all in all I was very happy with the way the Kimber Hero integrated into the systems I tested it with and the fact that I felt compelled to try them in another system and with other speakers is a testament to how happy I was with their sound and performance.

Build Quality: 8.3

Sound Quality: 8.4

Value For Money: 8.4

Overall: 8.36

Price at time of review: £188 per 1m stereo pair

Recommended for its silky top end, lively and exiting performance, control and balance. 

Dan Worth