Does it matter the wire gauge used in interconnects?

Duelund 16 gauge sounds best in ICs within the Duelund family.     More full bodied and better fleshed out mids. I have also found wether you use VH Audio Airlok, Neotech etc... the thicker the better up to 16 gauge.   Shielding does close in the sound with ICs.  

The best sounding ICs are made as a true double IC. Two ICs in one.  Double runs of the positive and negative conductors.  Remarkable results. 

Go to that DIY Helix site shared by @twoleftears and read it fully.   Build the Double Helix IC and be prepared to hear the best cables you have ever had in your system. 

I will share here that I have made double helix RCA ICs and SPDIF cables for audio friends that preferred them to cables costing up to  $7800.  Not joking here. It really happens regularly. 

You can build your 10 foot XLR ICs this wavy Ken. First, the double sounds best based on my testing and builds over the years. I have built some 400 sets of ICs over the past 4 years and taken the time to listen to all manner of conductors, gauge, shielding and geometry.

I highly suggest you build using the Helix Method as given in the link provided. I would use the Vampire pure copper XLR connectors. Use the VH Audio 18 gauge solid core Copper Airlok conductor on pins 2 and 3. Twist conductors 2&3 every 2 or so inches. The VH Audio wire costs $4 foot so that will cost you around $160. For the ground wire on pin 1 you use Take Five Audio 16 gauge stranded copper, silver plated, cryo’d wire. It costs some $1 per foot. Use a 4-1 ratio to the VH Audio conductors. So you will need a total of 80 feet. Your total cost will be around $300 - $350 if you make this standard, not double, Helix XLR IC. The cost is closer to $600 if you double up on the conductors and make a double helix. The double will sound the best, but not twice as good 🙂.

Another way to build a nice set of XLR ICs in a more conventional manner is this...,

Use the same VH Audio conductors, twisted pair on pins 2&3, and use a high quality tinned copper braid shield tube as the pin 1 conductor. The VH Audio twisted pair runs inside the 1/4 inch or so diameter copper braid. Now you have a shielded XLR cable which will sound very good. Not as good as the Helix, but very good. I have compared. The Helix design is special giving the blackest background and most open sound I have yet to hear in a cable. Very resolving, but smooth and natural at the same time. Uncanny. The outer Helix acts as a Faraday cage.

Both of these builds can can be improved sonically by doubling up on the conductors.

Helix Double

- Two twisted pairs of VH Audio conductors for pins 2 & 3. One twisted pair to each pin. I would twist the two individual twisted pair sets together every 3-4 inches.
- Two TFA conductors for the Helix ground.

Standard Shielded XLR

- Same individual tinned braided copper tube shield as the single - pin 1.  
- Two twisted pairs of VH Audio conductors as above - pins 2&3. 

Use 4% Silver WBT solder. Be careful not to nick or mar the wire conductors when striping off the insulation. Use as little solder as possible to make a secure solder connection.

Two VH Audio 18 gauge solid core sounds best. Many of us who have built these know first hand. Better than one 18 gauge on its own. Nicely extended top end. TFA on the negative for single ended or ground/pin 1 for XLR. This recipe just works. The VH Audio 18 gauge solid core silver Airlok is even better, but very costly. I made a Helix design USB cable with it as the data conductors and TFA 16 gauge as ground. The sound is stunning. Just stunning as a USB cable. Yes, I had to modify the rear of the usb connectors to fit these heavy gauge conductors. Once again these gauges sounded better than the usual 24-30 gauge conductors used in usb cables. Why? Well the experts can argue, but folks that have listened and compared agree. I know this goes against the USB “white paper” articles. Go figure. Trust your ears every time.

No problem fitting the double design in a connector as I have done it many dozens of times. I can give some tips if one is pretty skilled with a soldering iron.

I would not mix copper and silver as part of the twisted pair double.  I would not use different gauges either.  The negative and/or ground conductors on ICs simply need a good quality stranded conductor that is easy to coil into a Helix, keeps its shape, and offers enough flexibility or spring to stretch evenly across the length of the cable.  The TFA is ideal for this. Many others don’t work nearly as well.