Kimber Kable Select KS 1116 Interconnect Cable - XLR to XLR

How Far Copper Can Go

Kimber makes interconnects with silver conductors, and others that mix silver and copper. The Select KS 1116 answers a different question: how good can an all-copper cable be? It is Kimber’s best copper interconnect and the entry point to the Select range.

Six solid-core conductors do the work, drawn from hyper-pure, molecularly optimized copper. They are not round. Each has a 2:1 rectangular profile, which Kimber says extends the top end while keeping the warmth and ease copper is known for. The KS 1116 is the balanced version, terminated in studio-grade XLR connectors with silver-plated contacts, and it is sold as a pair.

Select cables are hand-built by the same small team, and Kimber spent more than a decade refining this one.

An Orthogonal Braid Around a Solid Core

Kimber calls the geometry a constrained matrix orthogonal braid. In practice that means the six conductors are woven at right angles around a central core compound Kimber calls X-38R, which holds the weave in a fixed relationship and damps micro-vibration in the cable body.

That matters. A braid that shifts as you move the cable changes its own electrical behaviour; one locked around a core does not. Each conductor is insulated with V-fluorocarbon dielectric, and an ESD yarn deals with static.

Kimber is direct about the goal, and it is not tone. The geometry and dielectrics are aimed at dropping the noise floor, on the logic that a quieter background lets more detail through.

What Reviewers Are Saying

Robert H. Levi reviewed the KS 1116 and its single-ended sibling for Positive Feedback in Issue 51, September/October 2010, and recommended both. His conclusion: "I hear more of everything and a realistic, but relaxed presentation, that’s just magical." He rated the pair his top pick in their price bracket, praising the bass and top-to-bottom integration.

He was honest about the ceiling too. Against a far more expensive Jorma Origo he heard slightly less air, definition and depth. He also calls himself a detail maven who kept the all-silver Selects in his own second system. And he found the KS 1116 needed about 100 hours before it opened up, so do not judge it on the first evening.

Who Is This Interconnect Best For?

• Balanced systems — Built for XLR from the start, not adapted to it.
• Listeners who want copper’s character — Warmth and ease, with the top end opened up by the conductor shape.
• Anyone chasing a quieter background — Noise floor