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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
williewonka
3,072 posts
 

@abolive - just to assure you further - If you make a cable using good solid copper wire, the cable will adopt a "natural. curve" once attached to components.

You can of course use a tighter curve if space is a premium, but even a really tight bend in the cable should not approach the right angled  "L" shape reqquired to fracture the wire  when used under "Normal Use" 

To get copper wire to fracture, I had to use a pair of pliers and force an "L" shape in the wire, and then wigggle it back and forth several times

But to be on the safe side, just allow the cable to show you it's natural curve and use that

Regards - Steve

stofarius's avatar
stofarius
1 posts
 

Hi,

After reading a lot these pages as well as Steve's pages, I finally made my first 2 power cables, which I'm using for the power amplifiers (Schiit Try).

As I live in Europe, I couldn't order some of the wires you mentioned here, so I used 2 Neotech SOCP-14 wires for the signal, with regards to connectors I used ieGO 8075 (Rhodium plated).

I used these power cables to replace stock/standard power cables, I am happy with the result. Now I plan to make 2 more cables for the DAC and maybe the preamplifier, but using Neotech CU+Ag OCC wires this time.
 

Special thanks to Steve for his site with instructions, as well as to Cameron who helped me when I started this journey :)

All the best,
Marius

mfgroup
1 posts
 

Very good topic. I'll put in my five pence.
Even though I use diy wires a lot, I am still sure that they will not replace good factory brands.

I played around with neotech, and although it was interesting, it wasn't my sound.

I switched to duelund silver, and this is what is closer to my spirit.
I can confidently recommend Duelund Silver Foil & silk in oil wire as a signal wire. For the ground, I used Jantzen Silver Plated Copper Wire Speaker Cable. For those who want to save money, there is an excellent offer in the form of Duelund Flat Pure Silver Foil bare wire. For it, buy a 2.0mm pfte sleeve (I haven’t found a thicker one, but that’s not a problem. Just take this sleeve and run a ruler along the entire length, making it flat. The tape will fit in).

Also, don’t skimp on connectors. Otherwise, everything is a waste.

I also want to say that I successfully used it as a digital IC, but for this I just bought a budget digital IC with good connectors to use them for my purposes.
Remember, good brands of connectors also have their own sound, so this is another place where you can get good connectors inexpensively.

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