Kimber Kable KS 1116 Balanced XLR Interconnect

KS 1116 is the all-copper balanced interconnect and the entry point into Kimber’s Select 6000 series — which is to say the entry point into Kimber’s reference tier, not the entry point into Kimber. In Select’s numbering, 16 denotes all-copper conductor material and the 11xx prefix denotes balanced XLR (10xx denotes RCA). Above 1116 sits the hybrid 1126 and, at the top, the all-silver 1136.

The Select braid is identical across all three material choices — only the metallurgy changes. Each conductor is a mix of VariStrand (multiple strand gauges within one conductor, since different gauges favour different parts of the frequency band) and solid core, braided in Kimber’s counter-rotating weave so each conductor’s position relative to its neighbours changes continuously along the run. That geometry cancels the fields the conductors would otherwise induce in each other, doing the noise-rejection work a foil or mesh shield would otherwise be asked to do. Studio-grade XLR connectors with silver-plated contacts terminate both ends.

Copper in the Select geometry gives a rich, dynamically robust presentation with naturally layered imaging. Nothing about this cable is a lesser version of the silver models — it is a different tonal decision at the same construction level, and in a system with silver-heavy signal paths elsewhere it is frequently the right one. Its loudspeaker-cable counterpart is the KS 6063, built on the same all-copper principle, and its RCA sibling is the KS 1016.

KS 1116 is the correct starting point for a system where the electronics are fully balanced and the preference is for copper’s tonal density and dynamic authority rather than silver’s low-level detail retrieval. Comparing 1116, 1126, and 1136 in the same system with familiar recordings is the honest way to settle the metallurgy question. Walk in during business hours or book ahead if the audition needs your specific source and preamp in place.