Neutral and accurate. Value

Exposes weaknesses in your gear. Some what cheap looking!

I didn't care for these cables when I first auditioned them in my Acurus DIA setup. The sound was harse and dry. I decided to give them a second chance in my Bryston system and they are simply the best thing I've heard on this side of $500. It's a very neutral and transparent cable. You don't loose or gain anything. I think they are an amazing cable at any price but for being a cable under $80, they are awesome. In the right system, they can really shine! I'm a believer.

Similar Products Used:

AudioQuest Topaz,Ruby; Transparent MusicLink, TaraLabs

Having read the previous reviews I am not sure how helpful this will be because of the application. I use the kimber pbj's 1 meter pair (balanced) cables for live remote recording applications, Schoeps CMC6 w/mk4 or mk21 capsules. The cables are used to go from the mic pre/phantom supply(Sonosax SX-M2) to either an external AD converter (Apogee AD500) or most commonly a two track digital recorder (HHb PDR1000). Other cables I tried were several variations of the wireworld and some run of the mill low impedance balanced cables. The pbj's provided an increased awarness of spatial information particularly with respect to the basic cables (canair) and performed as well as the wireworld cables at least as best as I could tell. For the price, its a hard cable to beat, granted using the balanced cable I am not really concerned about rf interference as with the unbalanced configuration.

Clear, Transparent, dynamic, Fast, Good extension at both end, vidi soundstage, coherence over the whole audio freq., LOW PRICE but HIGH END PERFORMANCE !!!

Unshielded structure that may pick up hum & RF interference.
Only applicable on well-balanced(High-end ?) system. It may sound bright on some systems.

Components used for review:

ARC SP15 II
ARC CLassic 120
Sony X7AES
Sonics Frontiers SFCD-1
Well-Tempered Reference
Lyra Clavis DC
ProAc Response 3.5 & 2s
Spk. Cable: MIT CVT terminator, Van den Hul second, AudioQuest Clear etc..

I need to say PBJ's performance is resonably good but at an unbelivably low price. Anyone who post the negative reviews on PBJ may not have good listening enviroment or not having well-balanced gear combo or up-to-class combo.

Compare with Taralab decade, the PBJ can catch up with the extension of both end response, fast response, clear soundstage. While Decade have better thickness on low-mid & dynamic & smoother mid-high presentation but the price is about 8 to 9 time of PBJ.

However, people spending 20K for their system may not consider buying a 60 buck interconnect cable. Anyway high-end performance at low price.

Easily get 4 stars !!

Similar Products Used:

MIT cvt, XLO, Taralab Decade, Cardas etc...

Clear, Detailed, Balanced sound

A little less bass resonance that some.

This is actually a very good choice for a budget system or those who are on a tight budget themselves. Have not heard anything significantly better until you spend at least $150.
Check eBay. There are always used 1 meter pairs that go for around $50 to $60

Similar Products Used:

Nordost, Van den hul

Confident, punchy sound; aesthetics

Takes some running in

I am surprised to see this cable so underrated. Many criticise the allegedly bright nature of the PBJ, and some claim it's prone to RFI.

As for the latter, I use a pair of PBJs to connect my Musical Fidelity X-LP phono stage to the integrated amp. I'd say that´s a rather critical application in terms of RFI, isn't it? Well, I get no hum or spurious noise in my system! So I just don´t see the point of the aforementioned criticisms. Just because the cable isn´t shielded, it doesn't mean it's more prone to picking up interference.

As for the supposed brightness, it just ISN'T bright. It's revealing. The brightness and harshness claimed by some are probably in the electronics, not in the cable. Use it in a mediocre system and it will mercilessly reveal the system's shortcomings (as well as the recording anomalies). But that's what a good hi-fi i/c is supposed to do: it gives the full bandwidth, therefore exposing the recording and the system's flaws.

On the other hand, many people seem to regard the PBJ as an inexpensive cable that should go well with the average japanese budget and HT components. That's wrong: it may be Kimber's entry level i/c, but it isn't a cheapo cable. It's an affordable high-end cable that needs to be partnered with quality components.

The PBJ, as other Kimber cables, is a honest, neutral and effective cable with an excellent price/quality ratio. It has the Kimber's family sound at a lower price. And it also happens to be one of the cutest interconnects I've ever seen. Its solid sound, clean treble and punchy bass make it a very valuable cable. And its performance is remarkably close to that of the Hero, which is nevertheless more full-bodied.

Cables are a way to fine-tuning a system. A good cable works wonders in a balanced system, but can't do anything to rescue a poor system. I guess mismatches are the reason why the PBJ gets so many negative reviews, and that's rather unfair. As for me, I have nothing to criticise. It's just impossible to argue with the value on offer here.

Similar Products Used:

Kimber Hero, Nordost Black Knight

After trying several cable types, I took home the "budget" PBJ's and I loved them. The search is over. My DefTech BP 8's are a bit bright, and I had always heard that the PBJ's are bright as well, but the combination was right on. I noticed right away that they gave me the musical depth that I was looking for, and the soundstage widened considerably. Individual equipment and tastes will play a major role, however. I use PBJ's between my Elite CD player and preamp, and also between my preamp and Marantz MA-500 amps. Don't let the price fool you. Try these babies out.

Clarity, Soundstage

For this price, none, if you have bright
system not best choice

If you have nuetral to relaxed sounding
system this is your best buy for $80.
Compared to other "soft" sounding cables
PBJ has great clarity revealing subtle
nuances of music, no rollingg off highs
or obscuring detail, tight controlled bass goes deep, soundstaging excellent
for this price. Give a couple days to
burn in, and this cable will be nuetral
sounding with pristine clarity.

My system Musical Fidelity E624 CD player and Musical Fidelity integrated
amp, Spendor sp1 monitor speakers (british classic), Kimber 8TC speaker cables......you can buy from Audio Advisor for $78 with 30 day money back
guarantee, or www.onecall.com for $70

Similar Products Used:

Various

I have used this cable on runs as short as 1/2 meter and as long as 30 feet. For the money, it can't be beat. Yes, it definitely has a sound which tends toward bright, especially if you are replacing Monster cables, but it also allows more detail through than any cable I have tried for less than five times the price. For even more detail, try the silver streak.
One caveat, this cable, like most Kimber products, is unforgiving of bad electronics. If you are using a bargain CD player, stick with the Monster Cable or Radio Shack offerings.

High quality connectors, good sound quality, reasonable price, flexible cable
.

A bit more expensive than the Monster M550i

Connectors are not as tight as on Monster Cable. One of the best choices in it's price range. Buy with confidence.

Similar Products Used:

Audioquest Topaz, Topaz II, Monster Cable M550i, Tara Labs Prism 11

hardly,adds depth but at what cost

many,makes voices thin and high frequencies at high volume
get on your nerves like nails on blackboard.

I'm pretty much a novice in todays audio after playing my
Yamaha C-45/M-45 amps,Denon DCD-1520,Translator Impact 5 speakers for 12 years.
Recently i've developed an new interest(forced by injury) and after comparing different electronics and speakers opted for this set:
Rotel RC-972
Rotel PB-981
Canton Carat M70 DC
Siltech LS 25 MXT speaker cable (yahoo!!!)
and kept the Denon(for the moment).
Interconnects were still to be filled in and i happened to run in to Kimber PBJ and in an impulse buy got them.
Big mistake even for a novice.The PBJ makes Junkie XL unbearable,Mark Knopfler sounds like the man has serious asthma,Robbie Robertson anorexic,Metallicas S&M like Snowwhite and the seven dwarfs and Sting slowly drowns in a mist of cimbals,bells and triangles.
Got Siltechs ST-18 G3 instead.Bammmmm!!!!Very smooth.
PS: sorry for the inaccurate and figurative description of the PBJ's behaviour but i'm a frequent MTBreview visitor and poster and came across this site by them.This type of review is typical for me.Many of the reviews on audio are surgically accurate but take themselves too seriously.
Remember this should be fun guys!!!NOVICE not getting serious.

Similar Products Used:

cheap OEM supplied interconnects,Siltech ST-18 G3