Pure Note Paragon vs. Kimber Select

There are three different Kimber Select products, specifically, all copper, copper/silver hybrid, and all-silver, and each is made as interconnects and speaker cables. Each sounds slightly different.

Because the performance of interconnects and speaker cables is heavily dependent upon their synergy with the other components in a system, the only comparison that matters is how each performs in your system (or in a system exactly identical to yours). To that end, buy both, break them in thoroughly so you know they are performing as intended, and keep the one that sounds best. To choose cabling any other way is gambling.

Redkiwi wrote: "Raquel, if there were only two cables in the world, your advice makes some sense."

In fact, the poster of this thread was asking about exactly that -- two specific cables, not "hundreds".

As for the rest of your admonishment, Kimber Select and Pure Note are high-end cables that are very revealing of the subtle differences brought about by changes in components, whether the components are being used with isolation products and after-market power cords, the room that the system is in and whether the room is treated, whether the speakers (and turntable, arm and cartridge) are set up properly, the quality of the electric supply, and on and on, and it is very easy to attribute a characteristic to the cable that is actually the result of an upstream component or speaker or room problem. For example, a person who complains that Kimber Select's silver cabling sounds bright and grainy in his system is probably blaming the cable in error -- what he is likely hearing is grain and other problems in mediocre upstream components that are laid bare by the Black Pearl conductor in Kimber Select's silver IC's and speaker cables, which is very transparent from the midrange up. In addition, different cables have different resistive and capacitive qualities that interact greatly with the other components, making a cable that sounds perfect in one system sound totally wrong in another system (I have heard Quatroffil make a $50k system sound like an AM radio). For the record, I run Kimber Select 1030 interconnects and 3038 speaker cables in my main system.

In short, I stand by my comment.

PS - Your horse analogy here escapes me. How about, "[G]o to the stable, ride some horses and keep the one that suits you best."

Tvad emphasizes what I could have perhaps explained better, namely, that cables are probably more system dependent than other components. In this regard, yes, I believe it would be best if people did not express opinions about the sound of cabling beyond reporting on direct A/B comparisons in carefully described systems, and perhaps discussing capacitance and such so as to avoid obvious mismatches. Reports about poor cable construction and bad service would of course also be appropriate.

I am somewhat less bothered by discussion of the performance of electronics and speakers, but again note that the margin for error, in the sense of attributing a particular sonic signature to a component that in fact results from its interaction with other components, lack of isolation, differences in people's hearing, etc., is high. My best hi-fi friend just completed a thorough revamping of the electrical supply in his house, which included tripling the amperage brought into the house, adding a dedicated circuit box and 7.5 kVa transformer to his audio circuits, new twisted 10-gauge wiring to cryo'd outlets, etc. The most notable change after all this work is that the 5 db. treble hump from 4 - 6 Khz. that he had previously been unable to get rid of and thought was endemic to his Revel Salons is now completely gone. He was on the verge of selling the speakers because of the tipped up treble, but now is reconsidering. The point is, he may have been tempted to say that "I think Salons are bright" before finding the culprit, but he didn't, which is fortunate. What really matters, however, is how you would think they sound if you put them in your system.

The magazine reviewers can make the same mistake, but at least they tend to post their systems so that the more savvy readers can get some perspective about why the reviewer heard what he heard. I recall a Stereophile reviewer a year or so ago describing a component as sounding warm and romantic -- then I saw that he was using Golden Cross in his system -- the sound he was describing was very possibly the sound of the Cardas. Some reviewers have used WattPuppy's as their reference speaker, but the Focal tweeters used by Wilson with the various iterations of the WattPuppy are anything but linear. Thus, everything the reviewers write about the high frequency performance of components they review using those speakers has to be discounted.

So, yes, I believe that general descriptions of the sound of components with no reference to surrounding componentry and context are generally misleading and probably better left unsaid, especially given the number of newbies to this site who lack the background to properly interpret the information. As for cabling, general opinions about their sound are especially pernicious -- cables are entirely suit to taste.