Duelund conversion to DIY Helix Geometry Cabling


I have been an avid user of the Duelund cabling for over two years now and have used them exclusively in my system with great results. I have built many for friends and have used a full loom of interconnects, speaker cables, power cords and an extensive wiring modification for a previously owned balanced power conditioner utilizing Duelund 600V PolyCast wiring which was transformative. My cabling desires can be a little addictive as I have owned and evaluated 40+ brands of cabling costing more than an entire stereo system!

Over the past six months I stumbled upon a thread here on Audiogon in regards to a Helix designed cabling and as you probably already know, I just had to look a little deeper into this cable design…After a month of studying and sourcing parts, I decided to reach out to the designer/architect, Williewonka who gave more insights and philosophy on how the cable came into existence.

That conversation got the ball rolling in converting one of my KLE Duelund interconnects to Steve’s Helix designed which only entailed replacing the neutral with a Mil-Spec 16 AWG silver-plated copper wire with the neural wire being 3 times longer than the signal wire and of course the “Coiling” of the neutral wire : )

After the modification was complete, I was not sure what to expect from the Helix cabling but I was quite shocked with the results with “ZERO” burn-in time…The sound stage became much wider/deeper with a much tighter/focused image and clarity/transparency is like nothing I have ever heard in any cabling regardless of cost. In fact, I just sold a full loom of a commercially designed Helix Cable that’s renowned around the world and has more direct sale than any cable manufacturer; these $200 DIY Helix Cables walked all over them…

I believe you will hear the same results as I have and have heard back from friends who have already modified their Duelunds with the same results; WOW! Remember the cables will need 200+ hours to burn-in and settle into your system. My system is now 90% DIY Helix to include IC, SC, PC and Coax with each cabling adding its beauty of an organic and natural presentation that draws you into the fabric of the music.

You can tailor the sound of your cables using Duelund, Mundorf silver/1% gold, the outstanding Vh Audio OCC Solid Copper or Silver with Airlok Insulation or your favorite wiring and you can change it at any time…

 

http://www.image99.net/blog/files/category-diy-cables.html

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/difference-in-sound-between-copper-and-silver-digital-cables

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/adding-shielding-to-existing-cables

 

Enjoy,

Wig


128x128wig

Showing 11 responses by camrector

@williewonka

 

ive been down the OCC hunt rabbit hole for months now.
I’ve come to the conclusion that unless the wire came from the Wan Lung factory in Taiwan, it is not OCC. Sure every Alibaba Chinese company will tell you that theirs is OCC but when asked to see any certification or if you ask them why they are not listed on the patent licensing, they balk.
Wan Lung has never supplied OCC bare.

I’ve been making every type of Air Helix cables now for my system as well as for friends with great success. My entire system is now Air Helix (besides speaker cables due to balanced topology of Yamaha AS2200) Recipes are dialed in. All with NeoTech ,AECO low mass connectors, and some stunning PC connectors. Very Happy.

@williewonka

I’m not having any issues sourcing OCC. Neotech is found like you said at a few places.

I think you missed my point entirely. I’ll rephrase.
If the wire didn’t come from the Wan Lung and Wan Lung factory only, then it is not OCC. No other factories in the world have the license to manufacture the OCC patent. One can buy whatever it is that Parts Connection and VH audio from a few different factories in China. But it is not produced by Wan Lung and therefore not official OCC. Wan Lung produces Neotech

I would not trust your “trusted sources” products that are not Neotech.  I’m not saying that they are being deceptive on purpose. But what I’m saying is that only one factory in the world (Wan Lung) currently produces true licensed OCC. They do not supply bare wire, they do not supply anything with “Airlock insulation”. Other factories do and call it OCC but it isn’t.

Any recommendations that won’t reduce performance but can cleanup the helix lumpy, 80s telephone cord appearance? 
Maybe put the whole thing in a large silicone or Teflon tube. 
 Sleeving alone doesn’t help. Thanks 

Maybe @pindac, but I see a 1980s telephone cords coming out of from my system.

@williewonka what are the effects of sliding the entire helix into a large Teflon tube so I could then cover with nice sleeving?

Thanks @williewonka. I’m using silk sleeve already but you can still see the lumpy

helix through it. So maybe sliding the entire cable into a flexible silcon tube wouldn’t degrade anything. 
These really are fantastic. So far I have 2 source power cables and an XLR.

Power cables are 2x 16g for the live and 12g for the neutral and ground Neotech OCC with neotech connectors and the XLRs are 2x20g neotech silver live and 16g Neotech copper in Teflon for the ground with AECO silver connectors. 
@knock1 just wanted to see if anyone had done it first before I go unsoldering connectors and dissembling. 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

@williewonka 

Research and phone calls. 
OCC stands for Ohno Continuous Cast. It’s a patented manufacturing process. 
Any manufacturer can (buy) license the patent, buy the appropriate equipment, and produce copper wire and call it OCC. One can look online at the patent and see who has licensed it and when they have licensed it. 
Wan Lung is the only factory that has a current license. They produce the wire for Neotech and Harmony. They will make wire for anyone if you purchase enough of it 
Then print your name on it. 
 

https://www.wanlung.com.tw/email.htm

 

@williewonka 

here is a list of Dr. Ohnos patents. The most often quoted patent is
4605056 issued in 1986, where he describes in detail the actual casting apparatus.

Continuous metal casting – Atsumi Ohno
Patent number: 4515204
Filing date: Dec 14, 1982
Issue date: May 7, 1985

 

Process and apparatus for the horizontal continuous casting of a metal molding – Atsumi Ohno
Patent number: 4605056
Filing date: Jun 13, 1984
Issue date: Aug 12, 1986

 

Method of producing a metallic member having a unidirectionally solidified structure- Atsumi Ohno
Patent number: 4665970
Filing date: Nov 20, 1985
Issue date: May 19, 1987

 

Process for continuous casting of metal ribbon – Atsumi Ohno
Patent number: 4789022
Filing date: Mar 18, 1988
Issue date: Dec 6, 1988

 

Method for horizontal continuous casting of metal strip and apparatus therefor- Atsumi Ohno
Patent number: 5074353
Filing date: Nov 23, 1990
Issue date: Dec 24, 1991

@williewonka 

The Wan Lung factory in Taiwan is licensed to produces UP-OCC Copper and UP-OCC Silver for Audio Sensibility, Acoustic Zen, Atlas Cables, DoubleHelix, Harmonic Technology, Neotech, XLO, Analysis Plus, MIT, Purist Audio Design, and WireWorld
Furukawa of Japan was licensed to produce PCOCC Copper for Audio Sensibility, Audience, Audioquest, Furutech, Oyaide, and PS Audio.
But they discontinued production in 2013
Sumitomo of Japan was also licensed to produce OCC cables but stopped manufacturing as well.

@pindac 

its on my list to try!  Specifically  the Acoustic Revive SPC-AV TripleC. I’ve recently completed a massive overhaul of my system. Just letting everything settle a bit. 
I’ve been experimenting lately with different low mass connectors. All my favorites (AECO, KLE, ETI) are getting beat by Neutrik Speakons!! Ive been pretty shocked by the results. 

Here is my source for the Acoustic Revive @pindac 

I don’t use any RCA ICs. Balanced XLRs only. What are some examples of the low eddy ICs?
Source component cable is my own LAN cable using 20awg solid silver. 
It sounds crazy I know but these Speakons are beating everything i throw at them. 

Ok wonderful. Thanks @pindac fof verifying. Good that I had the same PCCC on my radar. 
I currently am using all Aeco xlr connectors. They are beautiful with low mass and hollow tubes.

I’ll give the Accoustic Revive a go on my next copper XLR pair.
But I’m honestly going to use some Up-OCC silver first.