Kimber Kable PBJ Interconnect Cable - RCA to RCA

PBJ Is the Kimber Cable That Made the Braid Famous

Kimber Kable's PBJ has been in the line since the late 1980s. It is three conductors, braided, with no jacket and no shield. Kimber calls the construction simple and elegant. Reviewers have called it a classic. It is still made by hand in Ogden, Utah.

Other length & termination options are available. Call us to discuss your needs.

Three Hyper-Pure Copper Conductors

The conductors are Kimber's VariStrand hyper-pure copper. Each is a bundle of strands in several gauges. The three are woven in Kimber's tri-braid field geometry, the pattern that rejects noise without a shield around it.

A Fluorocarbon Dielectric You Can See

Each conductor sits in its own extruded fluorocarbon jacket. That is the clear insulation that gives the PBJ its look. Kimber publishes the numbers: 55 pF of capacitance and 0.77 µH of inductance per meter. Low capacitance keeps a line-level signal intact over a longer run.

The Ultraplate Plug, Explained

PBJ ends in Kimber's own Ultraplate RCA plug. Kimber machines it from solid metal stock. The Ultraplate contact surface, Kimber says, gives high conductivity and durability and is compatible with any plating on your gear. Inside is a solid Teflon dielectric and a split center pin that grips the jack.

What Reviewers Are Saying

Corey Greenberg, writing in Stereophile on July 1, 1993, called the PBJ "reference-level wire you can actually afford." The review helped make the cable a staple of budget systems.

Stephen Mejias, in Stereophile on June 20, 2012, heard "an outstanding job of re-creating the performance space." The PBJ remains in Stereophile's 2026 Recommended Components.

Who Is This Interconnect Best For?

• You want the original Kimber braid — the PBJ is the cable the line was built on, so you are buying the reference point
• Your sources sit near power supplies — the tri-braid cancels induced noise along its length, so the shelf stays out of the music
• You dress cables in tight spaces — three thin jacketed wires bend where a fat cable will not, so the plugs sit square on the jacks
• You want a plug that grips — the Ultraplate's split center pin seats firmly, so the connection stays clean
• Your components both offer XLR — the PBJ is single-ended RCA. If both your components have balanced XLR jacks, choose the Kimber PBJ XLR instead. Or call us and we will match the connector

How Does It Connect to Your System?

Run the PBJ from a line-level output, a DAC, streamer, CD player or phono stage, to a line-level input on your amplifier or preamp. Keep left to left and right to right. Push each Ultraplate plug straight on until it seats. Pull it off by the barrel, never by the cable.

Then listen.

Measure the Path, Then Add a Little Slack

Measure the route the cable will really take between your components, around shelves and behind the rack. Then add a little slack. As audio legend George Cardas puts it, "A cable that's just long enough usually turns out to be just not long enough." Keep the left and right cables the same length. We recommend a matched pair.

RCA or XLR? Check Both Ends

If both components offer balanced XLR jacks, we recommend using XLRs. If one has only RCA jacks, use RCA, and skip the adapter. You only get the possible benefits of a balanced output with a pure XLR-to-XLR connection.

A Long Run Between Components?

If your amplifier and speakers sit far from your source, we recommend a long interconnect over a long speaker cable. A really long interconnect affects system performance less than a really long speaker cable.

When Is It Time to Upgrade?

An interconnect often stays in a system for years, so it is easy to overlook. Look again when something else changes: a new DAC, streamer or phono stage, a better amplifier, or a move to components with balanced XLR jacks.

Pairs Well With

An interconnect is one link in the chain. It usually joins these categories.

• Integrated Amplifiers — the usual input end
• Digital-to-Analog Converters — DAC output to amplifier
• Phono Preamplifiers — phono stage to line input
• Speaker Cables — the last link to the speakers

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Ultraplate connector?

Kimber's own RCA plug. It is machined from solid metal, uses Kimber's Ultraplate contact surface, and has a solid Teflon dielectric and a split center pin.

What does VariStrand mean?

Each conductor is made of copper strands in more than one gauge. Kimber uses this stranding in every interconnect it makes.

Is the PBJ shielded?

There is no separate shield. Kimber relies on the tri-braid geometry to reject noise, which is why the cable has no outer jacket.

Is there a step up from the PBJ?

Kimber Timbre is the next rung. It keeps the three-wire braid and adds a low-loss fluorocarbon dielectric and the black Ultraplate plug.

See It in Action

Audio Advisor looks at the PBJ, its braid and its plugs.

Need a Different Length or Connector?

The most popular configurations are shown on this page. If your system requires a different length or termination, call our audio experts. We’ll help you choose the right configuration and arrange a custom cable for your system.

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Learn More

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