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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


128x128wig
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,479 posts
 
What if we spiral wound a flat ribbon style copper or silver conductor around a wider diameter Teflon tube for the Helix? Oh my 🤔
williewonka
3,075 posts
 
@grannyring ...

RE: Hot Glue
  • the heat shrink seems to work, the adhesive inside the Heat Shrink sealed the end very nicely.
  • But hot glue does not make the tube any wider like the Heat Shrink did - better for inserting into the coil.
  • There is very little air inside the tube once the two twisted wires are inserted
  • I did wonder if I could somehow inject carbon dioxide or Nitrogen into the tube to stop oxidation - still working on that :-)

RE: A spiral ribbon - go for it :-)))

But I think we might be leaving the realm of your average DIYer.

But it is fun to consider this stuff - LOL

What is interesting is the wire seems to sound extremely good immediately - almost as though it is burned in - which makes me wonder - do you Burn-in the wire or the insulation???

Granted the neutral wire and the RCA’s are well and truly burned in, but I was expecting some indication that burn-in was required.

When either Neotech or VH Audio wires had the insulation on them, they required about 200 hours burn-in - before that there was some imaging issues and harshness. Not this time.

Something to ponder :-)

Will keep everyone posted

Regards - Steve
basillus
2 posts
 
Hi Steve. Great thread and informations.
You twist the 2 bare wires together and put them together in one teflon tube, instead of twisting 1 bare wire in a teflon tube, with 1 bare wire in a teflon tube?

Don’t use hotglue, because it doesn’t sound good. Seal the tube with epoxy glue in the heat shrink or use diagmagnetics materiale like these...put a little piece of wool in the tube ends and seal it with shell lack. Steen Duelund liked diagmagnetic materials a lot.

Are there anyone here there have tried to use this diy helix recipe as a dc cable from a psu to the source?
williewonka
3,075 posts
 
@basillus - RE:
You twist the 2 bare wires together and put them together in one teflon tube
That is correct. Although I did consider using two tubes in my thought process, I decided to go with the single tube option for simplicity.

Personally, I will not try the Epoxy approach, since I am forever trying new wires and methods and I think that the epoxy would make that change process more difficult. But it does have it’s merits

The heat shrink I use has an adhesive applied to the inside, which turns liquid with the application of heat - it actually sealed around the wire and tube quite nicely and it is relatively easy to undo in the future.

UPDATE: After just 14 hours of playing, this new approach is paying some very nice dividends - it will be very interesting to see how they sound after 200 hours burn-in.

One observation I find interesting - to this point I have not observed any harshness as I did when using wire with a molded insulation.

Regards - Steve




grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,479 posts
 
Hot glue works well for damping/vibration control. I use it in some builds to good effect. I found no sonic negatives at all.   USB cable builds. I agree it would be best to make a double helix with two independent Teflon tube conductors as a twisted pair. It provides more of the sonic benefits of a true double IC rather than what is closer to simple increased gauge.
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