'Black Pearl solid silver conductors drawn in diamond coated dies and insulated with virgin FEP dielectric' doesn't help.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works .
Should you splash out on those upgraded audio cables to take your music listening pleasure up a notch? Probably not – affordable Amazon Basics RCA cables are more than good enough – confirms audio TechTuber Amir from Audio Science Review. This won’t be a surprise to regular readers. However, it is interesting to see Amir’s $7 vs $4,000 cable analysis using scientific audio equipment – as well as drawing from his personal music listening experience.
Back to the $7 vs $4,250 RCA comparison and what we have pitted against each other here are the Amazon Basics 2 RCA cables, 4ft in length, that are actually on sale currently at $6.76 (and up to 15ft in length for $8.96 ). In the other corner, there are the Kimber Kable KS 1036 Select Series Analog Interconnect (Pair), which we can see at Safe and Sound (US) in 1m (3.3ft) length for $4,100 .
You may like In a blind test, audiophiles couldn't tell the difference between audio signals sent through copper wire, a banana, or wet mud $500 fiber optic HDMI cable delivers flawless 48 Gbps performance across a staggering 990 feet Not all cables are born equal, test your USB cables with these cheap USB testers Amazon promises “crystal clear audio [and] reliable performance [with its] gold plated connectors.” However, the Kimber product aims for premium with its “Black Pearl solid silver conductors drawn in diamond coated dies and insulated with virgin FEP dielectric under the most exacting tolerances which offer the purest transfers of the most demanding highest resolution signals.” It should hardly be a fair fight.
Our host, Amir, noted that the Kimber product gets off to a bad start, with a totally unnecessary flight (Pelican) case. Indeed, it looks very cheap compared with the cable’s prestige target market.
Probably worse for the expensive product is that its locking cable design throws up as many negatives as positives. Basically, locking isn’t a particularly attractive feature here, and could precipitate accidental damage with someone unfamiliar with (or who forgets) the locking mechanism. Making this worse is the observation that inside the connector are “flimsy plastic tabs,” which is an inferior design feature vs traditional RCA cables.
Amir then shifted to scientific audio analysis using Audio Precision analyzer hardware. Is this where the $4,000 cables would at last show their superiority?
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/sound-cards/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/sound-cards/comparison-of-usd4-000-boutique-audio-cable-to-usd7-amazon-basics-cable-shows-audiophiles-waste-a-lot-of-money-scientific-audio-equipment-analysis-with-analyzer-shows-no-difference-in-quality#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
- Samsung 49-inch OLED Odyssey G9 hits unbelievable all-time low of $799 — gaming monitor comes with a free copy of Resident Evil Requiem
- RTX 5060 gaming laptop brings epic power for under $1,500 — save $580 on Dell's Alienware 16X Aurora
- Smooth Moves: 90 Frames-Per-Second Virtual Reality Arrives on GeForce NOW
- SMIC sent chipmaking tools to Iran's military, Trump administration officials say — report claims exchange began a year ago, 'almost certainly included technica
- NVIDIA, Telecom Leaders Build AI Grids to Optimize Inference on Distributed Networks
Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.