FAQs

All Axios cables are custom made to order, even in the USA.  Allow between 5 – 15 business days depending on workload, time of year and your location.

Here’s a breakdown, from time of order placement:

Kimber say upto 2 weeks to make the cables but it can be as short as 3 days depending on their workload.

We ship via Courier Express so allow another 3-4 business days for delivery from Utah USA to Sydney.

Then another 1-3 days for Express Delivery to you (overnight main centres).

Its too hard to add to the site so we’ve added a quick quote form!

There are just so many different headphone brands and models, then multiply that by all the different connector types, cable options (copper, hybrid, silver, length, wire braid) that its enough to make your head spin right off your shoulders!

So please contact us and we’ll work it out for you and you will still have a place for your hat.

Because they are “real”.   Dynavector Japan is a real company, not a marketing company.   Established in the 1970’s by the physicist Dr Tomainari it really does design and manufacture moving coil cartridges and tonearms.   Dynavector invented specialised coil winding machines that can wind coils with the world’s finest (and lightest) wire.   These machines are secret to this day!

Dynavector products are made in-house in Tokyo Japan and they have an extensive and ongoing Research and Development program.   No Dynavector products are made by outside companies.   Most other cartridges on the market are simply re-branded OEM units, all more-or-less identical inside with all the R&D going into fancy brochures and wild claims.

Dr Tominari discovered the cause of a harshness common to ALL cartridges when playing loud and complex musical passages.   Dr Tominari solved it with the invention of a new magnetic material (patented) that is now in all Dynavector cartridges.   It totally eliminates any harshness even in the midst of the most massive musical crescendo.  The sound is always smooth and crystal clear.   This solution is only found in Dynavector cartridges!

Hint:  Always audition audio equipment using large scale music.  I’ll post a FAQ on how to audition audio gear FAST and sort out the “diamonds from the dross!”

With the increasing prevalence of Fake Kimber advertised on various online platforms like eBay, Audiogon, Stereonet etc it is very difficult to work out whether an item is genuine or not.

If you are unsure, Kimber in the USA are only to happy to assist.  Just send them photos – the higher the resolution the better – or a link and they will check it for you.  Contact the Kimber factory directly on info@kimber.com.   You will be impressed !

As a general rule, when looking at a Kimber advertised “as brand new” a very simple test to apply is:   “If the price is very low, then its a fake”.     It’s that simple.
Why?  Because Kimber is a real company.  It makes its own product, in its own factory, in Utah USA!  It is NOT made in China or another low cost country.  Kimber is a genuine product, not some re-branded OEM item.   So there is no way a seller can be offering a brand new Kimber item at a silly price!   Oh, and don’t believe the seller’s wild stories about how come the cable is so cheap!

Yes there are counterfeit Kimber Kables out there.  We have encountered several TC series cables in Australia recently (2022-23).    One pair was even sold via a legitimate dealer on a well known Australian website offering stereo equipment for sale.    The dealer even had the gall to say he’d purchased them from us!    A direct lie.    There are fakes on sites like eBay, Audiogon and many others.   EVERY Kimber on AliExpress is FAKE!   Here is how to spot them:

Because it works!  It will improve the sound of any audio system – guaranteed.

Kimber Kable is a REAL product, it is not a marketing product.  It is made in USA in Kimber’s own factory in Utah.  Kimber only release new products if they detect a quantifiable improvement in the performance.

If you want your new cartridge ASAP and don’t want to wait for the trade in cartridge to reach us, you can simply choose the full price and we will ship the new cartridge immediately via free Express Post.

We will also provide a PREPAID return Express Post shipping label so that you can return the old cartridge to us.  (you can use the box we sent the new one to you in).
When we receive the old cartridge, we will immediately refund the trade in discount directly into your bank account or credit card account.

If you don’t mind waiting an extra few days, then select the trade in that matches your old cartridge and the price will be reduced by the trade in amount.   We will then email you a PREPAID return Express Post label and you can pack the old cartridge, apply the label – sign it !!! – and drop it into any post office.    When we receive the trade in, we will immediately ship your new cartridge via Express Post.

You will start to hear mis-tracking, “harshness” and sibilance in the high frequencies, especially on the inner grooves.   With Dynavector’s unique micro-ridge type stylii (fitted to all models from DV-20X and up in 2015 and ALL models after 2018) there will be NO deterioration in sound until right at the very end of the stylus’ life.

As always, remember to keep your stylus and LP’s clean to extend their life.

Yes!  This is easily done.  Here is how it works.

Find the direct equivalent to your old cartridge in the current range,   note down the price and the available trade in discount amount.
You can then deduct that amount from the price of any cartridge higher in the range.
For older and more obscure Dynavector cartridge models, see our FAQ on Dynavector Trade In.
As of April 2023 we have managed to get the Dynavector cartridge pages to list and work out the trade in pricing directly – see the drop-down list boxes.

An example will make it clearer:
Say you have a 30 year old 20B2 cartridge that the cat has mangled.  The current equivalent model is a DV-10X5 mkII, the price in April 2023 is $1,149.00 and the trade in discount is $222.00
So a brand new 10X5 mkII  will be 1,149 less 222.00  =    927.00.
If you wish to upgrade, you may deduct $222.00 from any other cartridge in the range.

All old, worn or broken DV cartridges can be traded in on a brand new, latest model one* .   You can even upgrade if you wish.
The discount varies according to model and here is the outline:

ALL FIGURES ARE APPROXIMATE

Brand New DV-10X series.    Less 20%
(equivalent models include:  20A, 20A2, 20B, 20B2, 10Xseries)

Brand New DV-20X2 series.   Less 20%
(equivalent models include:  “ruby”, 23R, 23RS, 100R, 20Xseries, Karat Diamond, 100D, 17D2 and older)

DV-17D3  is now discontinued and replaced by the all new 17DX.  Trade in is based on 15% of the new 17DX price and in fact
the discount amount is higher than it was for the 17D3.  (Karat Nova is equivalent to 17D3)

Brand New DV-XX2 series.    Less 20%
(equivalent models include:  XX1, XX2)
Factory rebuild service is available at 35% discount.  Typically takes 5-6 weeks.

Brand New DV-17DX.  Less 20% and 15%
(trade in 17DX for 20% discount,  trade in old 17D3 for 15% discount)

Brand New DV Te Kaitora Rua.  Less 25% and 15%
(trade in TK Rua for 25% discount, trade in original Te Kaitora for 15% discount)
Factory rebuild service is available at 40% discount.  Typically takes 5-6 weeks.

Brand New DRT XV-1 series.  Less 25%
Factory rebuild service is available at 40% discount.  Typically takes 5-6 weeks.

*there is one exception, the ancient DV-50X is not able to be traded in, it was sold at a lower price with no trade in available.

First the Bad News:  No.  It is not possible to retip or recantilever a moving coil cartridge and restore its original performance.  (see below for further notes on this).

Now the Good News: Dynavector offer a trade in scheme whereby Dynavector owners may trade in their old worn or broken DV cartridge on a brand new, latest model one at a substantial discount.  We still accept 30 year old DV cartridges as valid trade-ins.

Dynavector is a real company, it exists, it does design and manufacture its own product in its own factory in Tokyo Japan.   It is one of the very, very, very few cartridge companies that is real, most are marketing companies that just purchase rebadged product from OEMs.   Dynavector do make cartridges and if anybody could successfully re-tip or re-cantilever a cartridge then DV could.   But experiments have shown that the original performance cannot be achieved – its a bit like putting new tyres on an old car.

Dynavector’s unique stylii will typically last 2,500 hours (DV-10X5 2,000 hours).   OK so what’s that in “real life”?   2,500 hours is about 5 – 7 years’ of regular playing.  If you are also using other music sources you can expect 10+ years.

Remember to keep your stylus clean and records clean.

No, all our sales are limited to Australia.

With the increasing prevalence of Fake Kimber advertised on various online platforms like eBay, Audiogon, Stereonet etc it is very difficult to work out whether an item is genuine or not.

If you are unsure, Kimber in the USA are only to happy to assist.  Just send them photos – the higher the resolution the better – or a link and they will check it for you.  Contact the Kimber factory directly on info@kimber.com.   You will be impressed !

As a general rule, when looking at a Kimber advertised “as brand new” a very simple test to apply is:   “If the price is very low, then its a fake”.     It’s that simple.
Why?  Because Kimber is a real company.  It makes its own product, in its own factory, in Utah USA!  It is NOT made in China or another low cost country.  Kimber is a genuine product, not some re-branded OEM item.   So there is no way a seller can be offering a brand new Kimber item at a silly price!   Oh, and don’t believe the seller’s wild stories about how come the cable is so cheap!

With Kimber Kable, the answer is no!  There will be no audible difference in sound provided the shorter cable is greater than half the length of the longer one.  Its a great way to save money and keep your room tidy.

Here is an example:   Right Channel = 3.6m  Left Channel 2.2m  is OK,   but 1.0m + 4.0m is not recommended (here we would suggest increasing the 1.0m to 2.0m).

NO!   They are still perfect and maybe check back in another 25 years’.

The PR, VS* and TC series were released over 40 years’ ago and are STILL in full production today!   We’ve been the Australian distributor for almost all that time and we have 35 year old 4PR and 8TC cables as demo cables.  When the dielectric is stripped off the copper wire inside is still PERFECT!  Zero tarnishing, zero damage and the Ultraplate Bananas look brand new with zero loss of spring.

Of course you may wish to upgrade to a higher performance model and you WILL get a noticeable improvement in sound quality.  If you do, then pass on your treasured cables to a family member or friend.  (I’m not implying that family members are not friends, so no cheeky emails please).  They can get another 25 years out of them and will always remember who gave them the wonderful gift.

* In 2023, Kimber upgraded the PR series to have the same spec as VS.  So PR “merged” with VS, keeping the PR model name.