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

@lemonhaze - at no point have I experienced brightness or any other sound changes in my system with the Helix geometry/wires - I did experience more details and improved clarity and improved venue acoustics (i.e. hall reverberations) using silver plated connectors.

Perhaps the brightness that is frequently reported is due more to the actual cable geometry and insulations used rather than the actual connectors or wire/metals and plating.

Gold plating may impact the dyamics a little, but whether it would be noticeble depends on many other aspects of system confguration.

  • quality of components
  • other cables in use
  • room dynamics
  • speaker palcements
  • etc...

I would stick with the silver plated copper connectors then you know going forward you are getting the best possible performance

Also don't be concerned with reported tarnishing, simply reseating a connector will reestablish perfect contact if any tarnishing does occur, but my SonarQuest plugs are now 4 years old and show no signs of tarnish as yet.

Hope that helps - Steve

@williewonka 

You mentioned carbon fiber mains connectors above. Are those carbon fiber bodies connected to the ground wire in those or is the carbon fiber absorbing RFI/EMI from just being there? If the latter, I guess I could try with carbon fiber "blanket" taped around the plastic connector and take a listen.

Or is this just for looks?

Thank you!

@lewinskih01 - looks!

 

Perhaps similar plugs from companies like Furutech use real carbon fiber, bur the plugs I have used simply use a small carbon fiber looking band.

 

The benefit of these plugs is the housing has a more secure cable clamping system, and provides more room to work while making connections.

 

Regards, Steve 

@williewonka As stated there is much info to be found on the Web where Low Eddy is the description about RCA Phono Connector Types.

The Brand I have experienced and the same Brand that has restructured my way forward in relation to RCA connectors, is WBT Low Eddy, used on both Cable and Chassis.

There are a few models from WBT, I will make an inquiry to get the Ref No'.

If you would like to try a PC Triple C Wire Cable, send me a PM, I have a Stock of this for my Cables yet to be produced.