Home Cable Asylum

Interconnects, speaker wire, power cords. Ask the Cable Guys.

Kimber Silver Streak, Part 4

Audiophile A: "You're spot on, Lummy. Kimber's interconnects were so skinny, light, and flexible, I brought them to many other audiophiles' homes."

Audiophile B: "I lost my glasses, while at Waikiki Beach. I had to take time out, to get new glasses, while on vacation."

Audiophile C: "I'm from L.A. When I drove up to Seattle, the car broke down in Oregon. Lost a day that way, while the car was being fixed. And no, I didn't visit Cardas or Tara Labs."

Audiophile D: "I got a kick out of your friend, whose parents told her to keep practicing. And then, when she said she wanted to be a professional musician, they said no. I have to admit. That's what I did to MY kids."

Audiophile E: "When I dyed my hair, it wasn't for highlights. It was to get the grays out."

Independently from each other, the five audiophiles above read my posts. They did the above, in the late-90s, when they had the single-ended Kimber Silver Streak interconnect. Myriad others have regaled me, with their experiences with the Silver Streak, but have not given me permission to quote them.




In autumn 1998, the music video of 98 Degrees' " Because Of You " was set right here in San Francisco. That inspired my friends to get out of the house.



My friends shopped in and around Union Square. They liked to go to Macy's and the Victoria's Secret (located to the left of where this photo cuts off), on the Powell Street side of the Westin St. Francis hotel. A common color scheme was black-and-white. We loved going down to Macy's Cellar, to share a variety of Tom's Cookies.

Meanwhile, I went to nearby Ultimate Sound. I had ordered the XLO Limited Edition line-level interconnect. That allowed me to move my old Kimber Silver Streak to the smaller secondary system, where the Silver Streak's skinniness was an asset. Ultimate Sound's David Tam tried to convince his customers that, for RCA, the Silver Streak was the optimal model. He thought it was cleaner and more resolving than Kimber's cheaper and copper-based PBJ. Yet, it sounded almost as good as the much-more-expensive all-silver KCAG.




We loved driving down to SoCal. We still had subcompact cars, which could only hold 4 of you. So when we had larger numbers, we went in multiple cars. Whether you sat in front or back, you were next to a girl. And that was how many of my friends paired up, and got closer. The nerd girls majored in microbiology, but loved to go on nature walks, tidepooling, and beachcombing. As an audiophile, biology may not have been your academic strength. Nevertheless, after finding neat plants and animals, that's how you and the girl cemented being together.



As you well know, my friends loved singing in the car. Our favorite 98 Degrees was "To Me You're Everything," which, inexplicably, was not made into a single. Thus, it never became a hit.

Although those subcompact cars got decent gas mileage, their tanks simply did not hold enough, to make it all the way from S.F. to L.A., on a single tank of gas. So we'd stop for gas, and then get a Big Gulp. We'd stick four straws, and share that Big Gulp. In addition, we shared food. Now that we are in a pandemic, looking back at our sharing of food is cringe-worthy.




The one place we did not share food was at Panda Express, which had individual meals. Note that her highlights were at the very tips of her hair. Thus, it had been a long time, since she had her hair colored. Yes, while we were in SoCal, we did go to hair salons.



My friends were foodies, and ate stuff you won't find on Inmate Central. My friends did not wolf down large quantities of food. Okay, yeah, all the germs got passed to each other. But you got to try a variety of food. And if you liked meat, since the girls did not consume a lot, you were in luck, and got to eat it all.



Many of the girls were physically small. Even so, those subcompact cars felt cramped. Likewise, many preamps have tighly-spaced jacks. Even though the cable portion of the Silver Streak is as thin and flexible as it gets, handling the locking-barrel WBT-0144 can be kludgy. You may have to hook up the Silver Streak first, before the other interconnects. You will need the space and clearance, to hold the male RCA against the corresponding female RCA jack, and turn/rotate the WBT-0144's barrel.

Your hair might be frizzy and get tangled. No matter how many times you try to straighten out the Silver Streak, it will bend back to its twisted form. In the early-to-mid-90s, my girlfriend ACS worked at Victoria's Secret. She has always liked the Silver Streak's black-and-silver color scheme. She likens it to black-colored lingerie on a light-skinned girl. And yes, when both are Cooked, the Silver Streak and 4TC work in tandem.

If the untreated Silver Streak sounded like road noise, the Cooked samples are much quieter. Without all the grain and hash, the Silver Streak now allows the images to spread out, in a larger, and more finely-scaled soundstage. More textures and resolution are now available. The Cooked Silver Streak provides the instruments the space, time, and freedom, to speak for themselves. In addition, more of the contrast between music and background silence is preserved. You feel as though you are (a) sampling the girls' fine and fresh food, (b) helping yourself to the meats, and (c) washing it all down with bubble tea or better sodas.




My friend Brenda [same person, as found on my Totem Sky review] said her family may have bought this Pioneer Elite DVD/LD player as far back as the late-90s. The Kimber Silver Streak does a good job, of maintaining intelligible dialog, and the speed of special effects. But it does not do as good a job, at revealing how the Pioneer sounds slightly richer than their older Sony Hi8 video cassette deck. To the Silver Streak's credit, Brenda says that it accurately shows that the Pioneer has larger images, and a wider soundstage, than the Sony (using similar source material).



The responsible audiophile knows that, in order to review an interconnect, she needs a variety of sources, ranging from mass market to top-notch. Nothing wrong with 1980s Hi8 and 1990s DVD. But it's time to utilize the Simaudio 750D with 820S outboard power supply. We are pleasantly surprised, by how accurate the Cooked Silver Streak is. It does not roll off the treble, bloat the images, smear the timing, or slow down the music. It brings back the spirit of you and the three girls, singing in the car. Yes, the journey was fun, and brought you together. Yes, the Silver Streak does entice you, to go on nature walks. Is that a bad thing, that it rips you away from the home stereo? Not at all! It's about exploring, and expanding your palate. Yes, when we returned home to the Bay Area, some of my friends, on account of the road trip, became boyfriend/girlfriend.

My audiophile friend Dee writes, "No. Hell no! Those road trips acted as matchmaker amongst your friends. But the Kimber Silver Streak can't play matchmaker between audio components, if they suck!"

Okay, okay, in that case, the Silver Streak is like a relationship coach, who honestly assesses what is wrong, right, and quid-pro-quo, between the two. But when things are right (the Silver Streak does very well, between the Simaudio 750D and 600i), this interconnect doesn't just "get out of the way." Source permitting, it will have you and your guests singing, dancing, playing air instruments, and just digging the music mightily.

-Lummy The Loch Monster



This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  Michael Percy Audio  


Topic - Kimber Silver Streak, Part 4 - Luminator 23:30:40 06/7/21 (1)

FAQ

Post a Message!

Forgot Password?
Moniker (Username):
Password (Optional):
  Remember my Moniker & Password  (What's this?)    Eat Me
E-Mail (Optional):
Subject:
Message:   (Posts are subject to Content Rules)
Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Upload Image:
E-mail Replies:  Automagically notify you when someone responds.