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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


wig

Showing 8 responses by svampebob

svampebob
11 posts
 

Hi good folks,

I use double neotech SOCT-14 in tube in helix config for speaker wires for my bass/mid drivers. I use a great active crossover/eq so the frequency response does not matter too much as I can just adjust everything appropriately. When I installed the helix I had to dial in a low-shelf filter, meaning rising eq from around 200 - 1000Hz, in total 2,5db if I remember correctly. It sounded fantastic. After several 100 hours (I estimate 300) I have gradually turned it down and I am finding I have to remove it completely now. I can only see 1 reason, burn-in of the cables, everything else is burned in a long time ago. Have anyone else experienced this, that the mids takes a long time to open up and gain level? Naturally one could propose my ears are extremely bad, but it is not my impression. Unfortunately though I have a umik-1 I don’t have measurements, but i often run a sweep from bottom to top to confirm my impressions. When I adjust anything it is always based on many separate listening sessions.

svampebob
11 posts
 
Thanks very much Steve! I wonder what you use for spacing now then? Maybe the tubes fill the sleve somewhat out
svampebob
11 posts
 
@williewonka Sorry as you probably already wrote it, but the thread is getting a bit long ;-) Will the neutral corrode in the teflon tube, I guess it is not air tight? What dimension tube do you use?

I finally finished 1 helix speaker cable (using 4). I did’nt use wood pearls but rolled the signal wire in some thick cotton sheet, which was pretty easy to get into a cotton sleeve (some 2cm diameter). Cable is really soft, easy to handle and looks nice and uniform.

I am so happy with helix speaker cables. Considering upgrading to 2 x signal and 2 x neutral on the woofer cables only (up to 1600Hz). Using neotech SOCT-14 / Jantzen silver plated.
svampebob
11 posts
 
Do we know for sure, that the quality of the neutral matters as long as its resistance is lower than the signal wire? In my simple mind it would make sense that the most resistive wire (signal) is the one that colors/determines the sound, and if that one is excellent (up-occ), the sound will be the same.
svampebob
11 posts
 
Thanks Steve! Afraid I can't afford up-occ for the neutral at the moment, so damn many meters required...

I use an active crossover so I have separate helix cables for the tweeter and the woofer. Currently the signal wire for both is the Neotech 14. I am close to using all of these on the woofers (double runs of the 14), and buying some Neotech 18 for the tweeters. Would anyone have an opinion if this gauge is enough for above 1600Hz? I see the tweeter signal doesn't contain much energy, so I would think it is enough. Thanks.

And - just a cheap tweak that worked great for me, in case someone streams and hasn't optimized their ethernet chain (or don't believe in that stuff); get a cheap d-link dgs-105 (20$ or something) and put it between your router/AP and streamer, preferably close to the streamer I believe. Put a good 5v power supply on it, and be sure to ground it at the back. For me, this was what convinced me that a bit is definetly not just a bit. The helix speaker cables will reveal such changes mercilessly, but you probably already know  ;-) 
svampebob
11 posts
 
Steve, is there a photo of how you terminate the solution with the tubes? Otherwise I guess it should be simple enough. I guess the length where the heat shrink directly touches the bare wire should be kept pretty short - 1cm? Do you think I can clean the bare copper with alcohol, just to get all grease and fingerprints off?

I received enough wire to double run all drivers today. I ordered the neotech with pvc (SOCP) to save a bit of money. I found it pretty difficult to get the sleeve off, but got better at it, 8-10cm at a time. However getting it into the tube was surprisingly easy, slid right in. Don't have many impressions yet, and only did 1 run (not double), but sound is still great (going from SOCT 14AWG -> 18AWG in tube for just 1 of the tweeters). Now I have 7 more runs to finish, expectations are still high :-)

Don't mean to derail the thread, but I also got 1m of Viablue EP-7s and 2 Telegartner 568B. EP-7s has a silver screen and solid core OFC wires, EP-7 has silver coated stranded OFC wires and copper screen - as I understand it. So the cable is nice solid core and quality seems excellent. I only attached screen at router end. It replaced some random cable from router to switch, and I have the Eno silver cable (plus Eno filter) from switch to streamer. Still what strikes me is better, tighter and punchier bass. I never heard bass that hits in the chest from my small 2-ways before, which was there today. Recommend trying it out.




svampebob
11 posts
 
Thanks @williewonka, I hadn’t seen that page before. Excellent tips :-)
svampebob
11 posts
 
Dual run Helix air speaker cables is friggin awesome WOW! Everything is just more mature and "confident", better in all aspects. I just noticed the beginning of Cæcilie Nordby - Set them free (Dali CD2). I’ve always found the sound to break down at the beginning, like things became too dynamic or complex and the illusion just broke down, and wondered if it was supposed to sound like that (there is a hefty hammond organ that overlies everything else, when the rest of the band takes off). Well it was not, there is not even a hint of it now, just rock solid sound. Steve, you’re a pure cable champ! :-D Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge.
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