Cable Asylum

Posted by Luminator (A) on April 28, 2024 at 17:22:58

A Los Angeles audiophile, Gary, reached out to me. He said he still used a few Kimber products. He wrote, "When I entered UCLA in 1971, UC Irvine and UC Santa Cruz [below] were new."

Gary also mentioned, "My neighbor's daughter goes to UCSC."

Gary wrote, "I never thought that anyone from Santa Cruz, of all places, would go on to have such a worldwide influence and impact in high-end audio."

During my sophomore year (1990-91) at UCSC, I spent more one-on-one time with Tuyet, than anyone else. At the end of 1991, Tuyet "encouraged" me to get the AudioQuest Lapis. Thus, she gets the credit/blame, for embarking me on my road to $$$$$ interconnects.

Both Tuyet and her roommate Deidre were from Los Angeles, and liked "modern rock" music. Deidre's tastes leaned more towards the folkie side, but nevertheless, both understood that, in theory, good audio should lead to deeper involvement with your music.

Both Tuyet and Deidre were picky, about bedsheets, pillow cases, and blankets. They both wanted to be comfy. Tuyet wished not to be hot, while Deidre wanted to feel cuddled.

An art major who specialized in drawing and sketching, Tuyet had already taken the class, which brought in nude models. So she was perfectly comfortable with that. Moreover, I would learn that she liked to sleep commando.

Deidre liked to sleep topless. She explained that her brother, who was 5 years older, liked to go around in shorts, and without a shirt. At home in the pool or on exercise equipment, the brother remained shirtless. And then, he went to sleep shirtless. Thus, Deidre asked, "Why can't I sleep topless?"

Deidre kept inviting us to join her in naked yoga. Tuyet and I did not know where or with whom, but we politely declined.

Like many other audiophiles, Gary wants to know, "Why did Kimber call it 'Naked'?"

Just like there was nothing sexual about Tuyet and Deidre being naked, there's nothing sexual, about the Kimber Naked line-level interconnect. It has to do with the 24AWG solid core copper conductors being uninsulated. Each conductor is first plated with palladium. And then, to prevent corrosion, gold is used to plate the outside.

Kind of like Tuyet's and Deidre's cotton bedsheets, the Kimber Naked's innards are made up of cotton fiber strings. This type of cotton is supposedly an even better insulator, than the commonly-used Teflon.

Each channel is then encased in a plastic (possibly Teflon) mesh/weave.

Overall, the Kimber Naked is of average stiffness, what you'd expect, for such size and materials.

Gary has used a few Kimber Select interconnect models. These have blocks made of wood. The Kimber Naked uses a block made out of clear glass. On one side of this glass block is the serial number. The block slides up and down the length of the interconnect. The block cannot be removed, but it does keep the pair together. The block is not supposed to have any influence on the Naked's sonic performance.

-Lummy The Loch Monster