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Cable Asylum Interconnects, speaker wire, power cords. Ask the Cable Guys. |
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Cable Asylum Interconnects, speaker wire, power cords. Ask the Cable Guys. |
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Apparently, plenty of you have, at one time or another, tried or owned the Kimber Silver Streak line-level interconnect. Thank you for sharing your experiences; I find them truly enriching.
One former Silver Streak owner emailed, "You're one of the few who gets it. It's not just some dry thing about a cable. It's about the music, it's about our lives. I sure as hell wouldn't want us to be the same. And that's why I so love your audio history and adventures. You invite us along for the ride, but never force us. We are free to come and go as we please."
"But c'mon," he wrote, "Among your friends, what, within reason, was the most shocking?"
I wrote back, "That would have to be my friends, Sharon and Steve."
Again, I never was popular, or was part of a clique. It was more, a web of stray or individual friends. Most graduated from high school in 1991, college in 1995. In May 1995, as my girlfriend ACS was preparing to graduate from UC Berkeley, we knew Sharon, who also went to Berkeley, but was from L.A. In our loose web of friends was Steve, who attended UC Davis, and was from Sacramento.
At the end of 1996, ACS and I were enjoying Journey's "If He Should Break Your Heart." And that's when, via other common friends, we learned about Sharon and Steve.
In early May 1995, a bunch of us had gone out around Berkeley. I guess Steve, who always liked Sharon, got together with her. But then, Sharon graduated from Cal, and went home to L.A. Steve then had another month, at UC Davis. After he graduated, he returned home to Sac. They never kept in touch.
ACS and I do not know the exact dates, timeline, and details, but here's what we think happened. At home in L.A., Sharon discovered that she was pregnant. In February 1996, she gave birth to a girl, but never told Steve. In late summer or early fall of that year, common friends alerted Sharon that Steve was in SoCal. Without giving any details, Sharon said to Steve, "We need to talk."
Just happy to get anything from Sharon, Steve was stoked. When they met up, Sharon had a difficult time, talking. So she showed him some photos of the baby daughter, and said, "She's yours."
Steve just said two things. (1.) Are you sure it's mine? To which Sharon said, "You're the only one I had sex with." (2.) Why didn't you tell me?! Sharon pulled out a copy of her daughter's birth certificate, which listed Steve as the father.
Bracing for the worst, Sharon didn't quite know how Steve would react. But he was over the moon with joy. Informing his family must have been awkward. And so, too, was meeting her family. But without giving it a second thought, he moved in with Sharon's family.
Steve got to play with and raise a daughter he didn't know he had. ACS and I got to play with interconnects. Sigh, after the juicy saga of Sharon and Steve, what a letdown. Nevertheless, ACS and I began to try the Kimber Silver Streak RCA interconnect.
In those days, the Silver Streak did not come with a birth certificate. It just came with this insert. I *think* a 1-meter single-ended pair cost $220, with the WBT-0147 RCA. I think it was an additonal $60/pair, for the WBT-0108 RCA.
Kimber separated the two channels, by banding one RCA in red, the other with white.
In the late-90s, the popularity of yoga made it socially acceptable, to wear leggings, tights, or yoga pants as outerwear. ACS loved that. She bought them in black, because that color "makes me look faster and skinnier than I really am. Also, it helps mask your panty lines."
Because the Silver Streak was skinny, and the two negative conductors were sheathed in a shiny black, ACS actually liked the black coloring. There are no serial numbers on the cable itself. The WBT-0147 RCA, however, does have a serial number. There are no signal flow markers or arrows. So we suggest going in the direction of the writing on the heatshrink wrap.
Are you ready for another shock? At present, the Silver Streak is $100 for termination, with the friction-fit Ultraplate RCA; plus $192 per half meter. Therefore, a 1-meter single-ended pair is $484!!! Going up to the WBT-0114Cu will add $106 for a set of four.
Balanced Silver Streak is the same $100 for termination with Switchcraft XLRs. But it is a whopping $364 per half meter. Therefore, a 1-meter pair is $828!!!
Oh yeah. Not long after discovering that he had a kid with Sharon, Steve got her pregnant again! As for the rest of my friends, most did not get married and have kids, until the 2000s. My Silver Streak stayed at my parents' place. I last had it in the early-2010s, but it went out, along with the Creek Destiny CD player and/or integrated amp.
The audiophile above joked, "You should have shocked me, by giving them to me!"
-Lummy The Loch Monster
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Topic - Kimber Silver Streak, Part 2 - Luminator 23:10:56 05/7/21 (0)
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