Are these Duelund wires good for interconnects-
Whilst I have found that Duelund wire with cotton/oil insulation is very good for interconnects I now prefer to use Solid Copper with AirLok insulation from VH Audio for many of my DIY cables. It provides more details and better dynamic perofrmance In some cases I use the Solid silver with AirLok insulation for more details. Hope that helps |
Forgot to add - for my very best IC's I use a bare Mundorf Solid Silver + 1% Gold and add a cotton sleeve for the insulation. I'm yet to find a wire that provides the same clarity, dynamics and details as this Mundorf wire. I get mine from HiFi Collective in the UK because they sell by the meter, so it works out to be cheaper, even with the postage Regards |
@dbass - I use the 1mm Mundorf (approx. 18 gauge I think) I am not considering it for the speaker cables because it is just too expensive for my 9 ft speaker cables Also, the 2 strands x 18 gauge Solid Copper with AirLok insulation from VH Audio works extremely well on my speaker cables. I think trying the solid silver would be in the realm of diminishing returns But if you have the budget give the 2 strands x 18 guage solid silver wire a try. :-) Regards - Steve |
@mitch2 - I thought I would provide some context pertaining to wire and cable geometry that can be found today. The wire in your link is made using a "conventional" cable geometry - i.e. a twisted pair. That geometry has many issues and more advanced cable companies are now discovering and building cables with more unusual geometries which combat the issues inherent in the more conventional geometries. There are also issues related to the insulation used on many bulk cables, which effect clarity and imaging. For best performance the insulation should have a Dielectric Constant (D.C.) value lower than 1.5. The method used in the Helix cable geometry uses a cotton sleeve for insulation on the signal wire, which has a D.C. of around 1.3, but since the insulation is not molded around the actual wire there is a significant air gap (i.e. compared to wires with a molded insulation), so the net value of D.C. is lower than 1.3. Granted, the wire you have suggested will "do the job", but it will not perform the same level as a cable that uses a more advanced cable geometry. Advanced geometries are more common in those very expensive cables from companies like Nordost and Inakustic. Also, using a solid core wire offers superior performance than a stranded wire, provided that it has an insulation with a low D.C. @dbass will be building cables using a more advanced Helix geometry and that level of commitment benefits greatly from using the very best wires and insulations with the lowest value for D.C. Hope that offers some explanation as to the differences between some of the wire types, geometries and cable building approaches.. Regards - Steve . |
@mitch2 - here's another thread with comments from a couple members that have tried the Helix cables and really like them https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/duelund-conversion-to-diy-helix-geometry-cabling Regards - Steve |
@dbass - I have tried the VH Audio Silver wire only on the power cables for my streamer and the results were exceptional. I would have to think it would compare favourably to the Mundorf wire in every respect. The differences between the two are... - the cotton sleeve has a Dielectric Constant (D.C.) of 1.3 - the AirLok insulation has a D.C. of just less than 1.45 However, there is a lot of air between the cotton sleeve and the silver wire with the Mundorf - which will lower the overall D.C of the mundorf cable further, so it might provide "a little" better clarity. When it comes to silver wire, it is capable of delivering incredibly fine details. The higher the D.C. of the Insulation results in more distortions that can "smear" those details. Now temper that with some reality - - it’s not a "chalk" vs. "cheese" kind of difference - it’s more an "Old Cheddar" vs. "Extra Old Cheddar" When you get to this level of performance I would probably have to listen VERY intently to discern a difference between the two and any difference might only be noticeable on just a few tracks that have the details fine enough to be capable of highlighting any difference. The benefit of the VH Audio wire is it does not require the cotton sleeve, so the build is a little easier. Also, the bare Mundorf wire may tarnish inside the cotton sleeve and that incredibly fine layer of Silver Sulphide may have a very slight impact on skin effect perofrmance over time. But that’s conjecture, not experience. The choice is yours - but you really cannot make a bad choice here, since I believe either wire will provide exceptional performance. Regards - Steve |
