Kimber Kable Tonik review

Kimber has one of the widest cable ranges around and the Tonik is the starter model.

It features a classic Kimber construction, with three conductors, two of which are assigned to the 'hot' side and one to 'earth', connected up the same at each end.

The conductors are plaited along the cable's length and the close proximity that results goes a long way to make up for the lack of screening: in fact in typical line-level applications (between CD player and amplifier) it's near-impossible to persuade the cable to pick up audible hum even if it is wound around a mains cable.

Each conductor contains copper strands of varying thickness (VariStrand construction) and they are fitted at each end with 'Ultratike' phono plugs, simple but good-quality plugs which lack a strain-relief sleeve – avoid repeated flexing. XLR plugs are an option for fully balanced systems.

I've enjoyed using practically all the Kimber cables I've tried, though I don't always find the interconnects offer the same sonic characteristics as the speaker cables. The latter are particularly good in the bass, which is typically extended but agile.

The Kimber Tonik seemed rather less assured with bass, both in terms of extension and detail. With a couple of good piano recordings it almost seems a touch sluggish.

On the other hand, its midrange and treble are so clear that it's easy to forgive a small transgression like that. There's a lovely liquid quality to well-recorded upper frequencies, which makes the cable easy to recommend for lovers of unemphatic detail and good imaging.

But for better bass, move up the range a little.

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