Duelund conversion to DIY Helix Geometry Cabling

Interconnects
I better get this question in before the thread goes completely dormant.
Steve, Grannyring, et all;
I’m kinda in the middle of my project utilizing bare wires in tubes. I’m re-doing my return wires because they were also in tubes and like Grannyring said, I think I lost some of my warmth.
My question involves the primary wires.  I have long been an enjoyer of the Schroeder Double Method of interconnect wiring.  I am currently changing the 3 long wires in my system, an 11 footer and two 8 footers. I started with OCC6N 18 gauge bare copper from Parts Connexion.  For the second wire in the Double Method I also tried using 20 gauge and 22 gauge.  Unfortunately, Parts Connexion doesn’t sell OCC wire in 22 gauge so I tried some 22 gauge OFC 4N copper for that.
I tried the 20 gauge running with the 18 gauge Double Method and also ran the 22 gauge with the 18.  The 18 plus the 20 sounded OK, but when I ran the with the 22 gauge I heard a nice warm bloom to the upper frequencies. Unfortunately, the 22 also added a little harshness back to the vocals which I find to be very annoying.  At this point I can’t tell if it’s the smaller size wire that introduces the harshness back, or if it’s because the wire is OFC 4N not OCC 6N.
Parts Connection doesn’t/won’t stock 22 gauge (I asked), so I might like to try 24 gauge OOC to see if that works.
My question involves multiple strands in one tube.  Steve, you recently went back to a single wire in a tube for 18 gauge interconnects rather than two wires.  Any sonic reason?  I might try two or three 24 gauge wires in a tube unless it’s generally thought that multiple wires would reduce SQ.
any thoughts?

Thanks,
Tim

Steve,

One question.  When I was almost finished with my solid copper interconnect project (I have 9 interconnect pairs), you tried OOC5N silver wire and pronounced the results as even better than the copper.  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr 😀

So, I made one set and I also was very pleased with the results.  I have two, maybe four more locations where I could replace the copper interconnects with silver. Even though these would be 1 meter long, the cost could end up being prohibitive.

 
What do you think of making making interconnects with two OOC5N solid silver, bare wires for the live side, with  a OOC 6N PTFE solid copper wire for the neutral?

Lemonhaze,

Sorry to take this long to post. I haven’t been back to this thread in a while.
I experimented with different size solid wire for the live wires of my interconnects. When I first made my wires with two solid 18g wires in separate tubes I was amazed at how much more impactful the music was, as opposed to my old interconnects. Everything sounded great, but as we always do, I wondered if it could be improved. The bass was robust but I thought if I could get a little more in the high frequency range the sound might be even better.

So, I built a set of wires with different gauges. I originally wanted an 18g matched with a 22g set, but I couldn’t find any OOC6N solid copper wire in that gauge, so I tried 24g instead. I was correct in thinking the higher frequencies would be improved. The highs were simply shimmering. Unfortunately, the 18g/24g setup somehow robbed my impact and my bass response. The shimmering highs were not anywhere near enough of an improvement to offset the losses in the lower ranges.

So, I made a pair with an 18g matched with a 20g. This proved to be a nice combination for me, so now, all of my interconnects have an 18g/20g combination for the live wires. I notice a little bit more in the higher frequencies but any diminishing of the bass and overall impact aren’t really noticeable.

I hope this can help.

Tim

Thanks Steve,

I gotta say, of all the things/tweaks I have ever tried, these cables, run shotgun style with another cable, have surpassed everything else I’ve done; including upgrades to some of my components.  I didn’t think my setup had enough quality to sound this good, but your cables elevated my system from “very, very good” to “ holy crap”.

The overall improvement in SQ was easily more than I would ever hope for when upgrading a component.

Thanks

Tim

Sorry Tecknik. I’ve built about 20 pair of ICs using the double helix method. The first 4 used PFTE tubing. All subsequent tubing was vinyl. Having performed some very serious evaluations, my opinion is there is absolutely no difference in sound quality between using PFTE tubing and the vinyl tubing. YMMV

 

Tim

As of today, where are the better places to buy high quality solid silver wire?  I”m familiar with Parts Connexion and Tempo Electric.  Any others?
Anybody buy the silver wire from Tempo?  They advertise a 99.99% pure silver wire.

 

Thanks, 

Tim

For anybody looking for heat shrink tubing or expandable sleaving, try:

https://www.mcmaster.com/products/electrical-lighting/

 

Also, I bought all of my clear tubing from:

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/vinyltubing.php

Search for vinyl tubing. It’s the same tubing used for protecting wiring in airplanes. AKA Spaghetti Tubing

Both sites are economical.

Tim

Thanks Mitch.  Did you use the 5N Silver wire with the cotton insulation?  That was the only silver wire they offer in 18awg and 20awg.
I have always bought bare, solid wire for the signal wires in all of my projects. I’m not sure what is the best way to deal with the attached insulation.
If you (or anybody else) used these in a Helix Geometry type of cable, how did you incorporate the cotton insulation?  Did you remove the cotton?  Just use the cotton insulation without utilizing PTFE tubes?  Put the wire with the insulation attached into the PTFE tubes?
 I remember Steve was cutting the insulation off the solid wires, early on in the Double Helix threads.  Is that still the way to use insulated wire?

 

Thanks,

Tim

So Granny,  I’ve only incorporated Steve’s double helix method in my IC wiring, not in my speaker wires.  How do you/would you use the Jupiter wires in your speaker wiring?   No tubes? Strip them and put them in tubes? 
 

Thanks,

Tim