Duelund conversion to DIY Helix Geometry Cabling

Williewonka

After reading this thread and your website several times I discovered the Jantzen wire for neutral was also recommended which I was able to find here in Vietnam, I’m an expat retired and you just don’t go down to a radio shack or order online and puff your item shows up in a couple of days it doesn’t work that way in s.e Asia and yes I agree with your description between the zip cord and quality wire. 
Regarding wire being wound counter clockwise doesn’t wire that has been soldered need to be broken in again ( thought I read that somewhere and it certainly sounds that way when I’ve done that in the past ) and re winding the wire would require break in again of at least 50 hrs.

Currently both dc cables have 96 hrs after installation of the Jantzen 16 g wire and are sounding very good indeed.

Thank you

@svampebob - many thanks for the very positive feedback :-)

But really, I consider myself just the scribe, because there have been many people from around the world and also from this very forum, that are responsible for getting the cables to this level of performance.

The efforts from everyone have been amazing and the Helix cables would not be so effective without their contributions.

Continuing feedback also provides insights that provides information about how the cables work across a very broad range of components.

• e.g. we now know the cables do not perform their best with certain components that follow a symmetrical balanced design approach

This is a great example of what can be achieved via collaboration

• so KUDO's  to "The HELIX Team" !

I very much appreciate all of the feedback and the sharing of knowledge

Regards - Steve

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.

Thanks @williewonka, I hadn’t seen that page before. Excellent tips :-)

@svampebob - Yes there is a photo on this link about half way down the page
http://www.image99.net/blog/files/9514cc3f6a7ba1d8336a56b1da69c6e6-84.html

As you can see I use spades on the power cable wires mainly for safety - they lock into the plugs very nicely and I have found they sound better than bare wire.

Regards

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.

TARNISH UPDATE !
I have been asked a few times about tarnishing of bare silver and copper wire used in cables

I have a piece of bare UP-OCC copper wire and a piece of bare Mundorf silver wire (+1% gold) that have been exposed to the room atmosphere for around 6 months now.

• The Mundorf silver wire now has quite a dark colour gray
• And the UP-OCC copper is a dull red colour

Compared to..

• The silver plating on my plugs/RCA's/Banana plugs is still a bright silver
• the copper wiring inside the teflon tubes of my cables  is still very bright

It would appear that placing the wire inside a Teflon tube and sealing the ends with heat shrink or hot glue does an excellent job of preventing tarnish build up.

I cannot explain why the silver plated plugs are not tarnishing at the same rate as the Mundorf Silver wire - perhaps the quality of the silver used?

Hope that helps

Regards - steve

I've used as small as 1 x 16 gauge for the speaker cable live on cables that handle 20 - 20k and found it adequate.

But using a double signal wire is better - so I would think 2 x 18 gauge UP-OCC for > 1600Hz should suffice.

Regards - Steve

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  ;-) 

@tecknik With a 16 gauge neutral I would probably go for 4:1 ratio

@svampebob - just realized I did not fully answer all of your questions...

Do we know for sure, that the quality of the neutral matters as long as its resistance is lower than the signal wire?

I have tried a few wires for the neutral and until I tried the UP-OCC copper, the Silver Plated stranded Mil-Spec always seemed to perform the best.

But when I tried the UP-OCC copper for the neutral, the improvements were quite noticeable. I was also able to use a single wire as opposed to the double strand of mil-spec previously used.

So I believe the UP-OCC wires is capable of significantly better electrical transmission when compared to a double strand of Silver Plated mil-spec having the same gauge.

Using a double UP-OCC for the neutral may improve things even further, especially on high end components.

Hope that helps - Steve

Steve, how long of a neutral would you have on a dc cable 3 to 1 , 4 to 1 ?

thanks you

Thank you Steve I appreciate you sharing your experience and knowledge and hope to try some mil spec silver plated cable from take five audio one day,

@tecknik - re:...

what’s the sonic difference between mil spec silver plated and plain copper on neutral

I’ve tried a couple of different wires for the neutral and the only wire that made a SIGNIFICANT improvement on the Saver plated Mil-Spec for the neutral is the UP-OCC copper with Teflon insulation

• clarity improved resulting in more details
• imaging got larger
• dynamics got faster.
• bass became more "textured"

I am assuming by "Plain copper" you are referring to something like the quality of copper used in household wiring or even OFC copper?

• using plain copper  in place of the silver plated Mil-Spec would impact on those areas of improvement

I now use UP-OCC copper on

• interconnects - 1 x 16 gauge solid UP-OCC with Teflon insulation (you can also try 2 x 16 gauge)
• power cables - 1 x 12 gauge stranded UP-OCC copper with Teflon insulation (you can try 2 x 12 gauge)

I still use 1 x 10 gauge Silver plated Mil-Spec on my speaker cables mainly because replacing them on my 10 ft cables would be more than I am willing to spend, since I would probably go with 2 x 12 gauge wires, since I have not found a vendor that sells 10 gauge UP-OCC

I did try using bare UP-OCC wire inside a Teflon tube for both the signal and the neutral and the resulting sound was not to my liking - it sounded far too clinical for may tastes, so I reverted to the Mil-Spec for the neutral

But - at this level of performance it all becomes a matter of

• personal preferences
• your system components
• the other cables used
• and of course BUDGET

Hope that helps - Steve

I’ve been playing around with the helix design on my dc cables with some Input from granny and am very pleased with the results using leftover mundorf 18g silver gold and plain 16 g copper for the neutral rather then military spec silver plated copper cause that’s all I had laying around for now. 
My question is from those who have tried it what’s the sonic difference between mil spec silver plated and plain copper on neutral .

@svampebob - I don't bother with spacers anymore because I figure the Teflon tubes plus the gentle twist I use in the two signal wires is as effective as the beads on the signal wire version.

I still use a 1/2" rod to wind the neutral wire on the speaker cables  so the signal wires "take turns" at being in the center of the Helix coil, and don't forget the helix crosses the signal wires at very close to 90 degrees, so induction would be minimal.

It also make fabrication so much easier :-)

@sns - glad to hear you like the Helix PC's - I think you'll like the IC's as well  :-)

Regards - Steve

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.

I'm not up on latest recipes, but I discovered Steve's original Helix page some time ago. I've auditioned  many cables over the years using lending library at Cable Company, $1k to $3-4k in all categories. The Helix has been my go to pc for some time, transparency second to none. My favored recipe is double runs of Take Five cryo'd 14awg for neutral, three runs of VH Audio Airlock 18awg for live, solid core copper 10 or 12awg ground. Only other recipe tried was Duelund DCA for live. I use cryo'd rhodium ac connectors that look exactly like the Partsconnexion Connex.

Need to try helix IC soon.

Thanks very much Steve! I wonder what you use for spacing now then? Maybe the tubes fill the sleve somewhat out

@svampebob - here’s a summary of MY CURRENT cables with some alternates choices for neutral wires

Interconnect Cables:

• signal wires: 2 x 18 gauge bare UP-OCC copper, each wire inside it’s own Teflon tube
• Neutral - 1 x 16 gauge UP-OCC solid copper with Teflon insulation
• Alternate Neutral - you could double up on the neutral, but I opt for a single wire to save costs and it’s easier to build

Speaker Cables:

• signal wires: 2 x 16 or 2 x 14 gauge bare UP-OCC copper, each wire inside it’s own Teflon tube - I have tried both and the 14 gauge did perform a just little better.
• But it might be speaker dependent - perhaps a smaller speaker would not require a 14 gauge wire
• Neutral - 1 x 10 gauge stranded mil spec with Teflon insulation
• Alternate Neurtal - you could use 1 x 12 or 2 x 12 gauge Neotech stranded UP-OCC copper with Teflon insulation, but again I would opt for a single neutral to keep costs down
• I no longer use the wooden beads as spacers

High Power cables for power amp or power conditioner:

• signal wires: 2 x 14 gauge bare UP-OCC copper, each wire inside it’s own Teflon tube
• Neutral - 1 x 12 gauge Neotech UP-OCC stranded copper with Teflon insulation
• Alternate Neutral - 2 x 12 gauge Neotech UP-OCC stranded copper with Teflon insulation

Source Component Power Cables

• LIVE wires: 2 x 18 or 2 x 16 gauge bare UP-OCC copper, each wire inside it’s own Teflon tube
• Neutral - 1 x 14 gauge Neotech UP-OCC stranded copper with Teflon insulation
• Alternate Neutral - 2 x 14 gauge Neotech UP-OCC stranded copper with Teflon insulation

I opt NOT to use the dual neutral wires in any of my cables because I consider the amount of improvements observed were not worth the additional expense.

• But then, I have spent a lot of money during the development of these cables and so I prefer to save money where I can.
• HOWEVER: if you are after the absolute best performance then using a dual neutral will provide just that

RE: Teflon Tube: Teflon Tube (PTFE 10 Tubing .106"ID .130"OD Approx. 10 awg ) from Take Five Audio

WRT using solid wire inside a Teflon tube for the neutral...

• I have never tried bare wire inside Teflon tube for the NEUTRAL wire mainly because it could present challenges when winding the coil

WRT:

Will the neutral corrode in the teflon tube?

It will discolor a very small amount and then it will stop changing, but this is NOT enough to impact performance,

• i.e. provided you use a small piece of heat shrink at each end to "seal" the tube.
• even without the heat shrink at each end of the tube it would take many many years to reach a point that MIGHT impact sound quality

Hope that answers your questions

Regards - Steve

@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.

@toolbox149 - I tried the two wires in a single tube first because from what I had read there should have been little difference. But changing to having each wire in it’s own tube provided better details dynamics and clarity, so that is now my standard configuration.

For the neutral wires I still only use

• a single strand of 16 gauge UP-OCC in Teflon for the neutral on IC’s
• a single srtand of 10 gauge stranded silver plated milspec for speaker cables
• a single strand of 12 gauge stranded UP-OCC in teflon for Power Cables

Since the neutral is so long (i.e. expensive) I prefer to save a little money vs, the slight improvement in performance that using a double neutral provides. I based this on my observation of the Interconnects. I am assuming (rightly or wrongly) that the speakers cables and power cables have a similar small ROI

But if you would like to achieve the best possible result I would recommend a double neutral also.

I have tried 4 wires for the live in a power cable and it provided no additional benefits over two wires, so I stay with two wires for all cables

OFC 4N is probably the reason for the harshness, because the OCC process provides a much smooth signal transfer, regardless of purity i.e. 4N vs 6N

Hope that helps

The idea of using differing purities of wire and wire production methods for the Signal Path is carried out by Audio Technica on their recent Rexat Cables.
Trying different configurations of Wires and Gauges as you are doing could prove to be the method to get a presentation throughout the frequencies that is to ones preference.  

I think this thread will always reignite, there is too much of good vibes contained within it to be overlooked.  

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

Guys,

Thanks for the mini xlr recommendations, currently using the Furutech and will look into the others mentioned.

Wig 👍

The Link is to a Brand I have not discovered in past searches.
That is the benefit of doing a search, the Robots throw other unknown products into the line up.
This Brand also does Mini XLR but I could not make out the lead out pin materials.
The one in the Link is looking likely that it is a Gold Plated Copper, as the specification refers to plating materials and Metals, where Gold and Copper are listed.  
What is very evident is that these are very competitively priced.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001458223192.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.1000014.5.4b3070d7a2biQ1&...

@wig - sorry - no experience with those.

But the Furutech plugs look pretty good on paper

Switchcraft also makes some nice looking mini plugs.

This one seems to have silver plated pins
Switchcraft TA3FX Female 3-Pin Tini-QG Mini-XLR Cable Connector (Nickel) | Performance Audio


Regards - Steve

Wig:

https://www.furutech.com/2013/03/18/6096/

@ williewonka

Know of any good quality 3 pin female mini xlr's?

Thanks,
Wig

No problem...

In "single ended" designed cables there is...

• a conductor (or signal wire) to carry the "signal" (or the "live" in the case of a power cables)
• and a second conductor (or wire) to connect the neutral sides of the circuits of the connected components

However, for "balanced" (XLR) interconnects there is

• a +ve signal wire
• a -ve signal wire - which carries the same signal as the +ve, but 180 degrees out of phase
• AND there is also a neutral wire

You can also have balanced power supplies

• where the "Live" and "Neutral" conductors (or wires) each carry the same output voltage, but 180 degrees out of phase
• so there is NO actual neutral wire that is at ZERO volts
• The Helix Geometry is not best suited to this kind of power supply

In addition to all of  that, some amplifiers are designed as a "fully balanced" symmetrical design, where

• the speaker terminals (i.e. both signal and neutral wires) carry the same signal, but 180 degrees out of phase
• but there is NO actual neutral wire that is at ZERO volts
  
• The Helix Geometry is not best suited to this kind of Amplifier design
  

Hope that helps - Steve

Thanks Steve!
Sorry for my English. What does "signal wires" mean? Is it a USB cable and a coaxial cable?

@pumpwheel - whilst I prefer silver plated connectors, I have found copper wire without any plating to provide the better sound quality when used for the signal conductors in the Helix Cables.

WRT: copper vs silver - silver has better conductivity and therefore is able to...

• provide better dynamic performance
• improved details
• a more focused image with more space

I use bare UP-OCC copper inside a teflon tube for ALL my cables, mainly because of the costs involved with silver.

The difference between bare UP-OCC copper vs. bare UP-OCC silver (inside teflon tubes) tend to depend on the system components. If they have the capability of resolving to the very highest levels, then you will hear improvements with silver.

For many, the cost of silver prohibits its use for Speaker Cables and power cables and the ROI for these cables is probably less than using silver for signal wires on interconnects.

It also depends on whether an individual is hell-bent on squeezing every last drop of performance out of their system (or not)
- OR whether they can actually hear the difference in the first place.

Of all the tweaks to the Helix design, three adaptions stood out as real winners for me

1. Using UP-OCC copper (or silver)
2. adopting the "Helix Air" adaption i.e. using bare wire inside Teflon tubes for the signal wire(s)
3. using two wires for the signal conductor and for the Helix Coil

So the choice really is yours - but I strongly recommend using UP-OCC silver over other "Silver wires"

• for example - The Mundorf Silver + 1% gold wire is another choice if you want a more relaxed sound
• but I found UP-OCC copper to better suite my goals.

Hope that helps - Steve

Hello everyone.
If I’ll use all silver wiring for a SE 300B tube amplifier, is that will good or bad?
What are the advantages of pure silver and silver plating over pure copper?
And if I make in my system all the wires and cables pure silver or silver plated (Interconnect Cables, Power Cables, Speaker Cables and Hook Up Wires), what are the advantages or disadvantages will I get?

DH Labs and Vampire XLRs look absolutely identical as I have used both. Sure one makes for the other.  Yes, pure copper. Used both and very, very good. 

@pindac - thanks for the links

The first one is "corrosion resistant" OFC or OCC copper - no mention of plating
Atlas 3 Pin OCC Male XLR Plug | Future Shop

The second one has the silver plating over OCC copper pins
Atlas All Cu XLR Plugs - Analogue Seduction

The third one is Rhodium plate over pure copper
Viborg Pure Copper Rhodium Plated XLR Connector Plug Audio balance 3pin M & F | eBay

The second one would be my choice, but the others also seem a very good choice

Regards - Steve

The Conductor Pins on these XLR Plugs as shown in the Links are in keeping with the Wire Choices being made within this thread.
There is Plating as an option to have additional protection as referred to as the preferred choice.
Not a Cheap Option on OCC at £ 90 for a M/F pair.

https://www.futureshop.co.uk/atlas-3-pin-occ-male-xlr-plug

https://www.analogueseduction.net/xlr-plugs-attenuators-and-adaptors/atlas-all-cu-xlr-plugs.html

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174569381798?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338722076&toolid=10001

Thank you Steve. I’ll stay with Neutrik

I have not tried them and while I like DH Labs products for their value, it looks like (from reading) that the pins are not plated, just pure copper
- this can lead to oxidation in the future, which will degrade signal transfer.

I prefer silver plated contacts because

• the silver plating prevents the copper from oxidizing
• while silver plating does tarnish over time, the tarnish is only microns thick and can be removed simply by reseating the plug 
• this is NOT the case with copper - they may require a more robust cleaning approach
• and I am yet to have to clean any of my silver plated connectors after 10 years of everyday use

Hope that helps - Steve

Thank you guys.  I also found these XLR male/female connectors. The site says pure copper contacts not sure if the pins are pure copper or just copper plating. Have anyone tried the DH Labs XLR

https://silversonic.com/products/connectors/ultimate-xlr/

@ghettocowboy : +1 what @mawe said

Deltron and Switchcraft also make XLR’s with silver plated pins at a reasonable price point.

I would probably stay with the Neutrik mentioned above because they literally "own this space" and on the plugs from Neutrik and Vampire I have seen/used the overall finish on the Neutrik has been a little nicer looking.

Also AMPHENOL makes some nice looking plugs - take a look at this link
xlr plugs silver plated pins - Search Results | Newark

The ETI are clearly the "Rolls Royce" of those mentioned, but I have no idea as to the level of performance they provide

Regards - Steve

@pumpwheel - whilst I have not tried these RCA's, I must point out that the contacts are made from  Tellurium Copper which has a lower level of IACS conductivity of 93% as opposed to pure copper as used in the KLE Innovations Harmony range, also silver plated at 101%

So from that perspective the  AECO ARP-4045S would not conduct the signal as well as the KLEI RCA's

I first compared the Copper Harmony to the original "Eichman Silver Bullet" RCA's, which apparently had a solid silver center pin, and the Copper Harmony provided easily discernible improvements,

• This leads me to believe the improvements are due to the overall design of the RCA and NOT just about the materials used in the pins

Also - the CLASSIC HARMONY are significantly cheaper 

• KLE Innovations Classic Harmony, Sonic Craft
• NOTE - the price in the link is for a set of 2
• even so - 2 x $15.69 is still the more affordable option

Hope that helps - Steve

Hi.
Has anyone tried these connectors? How is their quality?
https://www.partsconnexion.com/AECO-88072.html

@ ghettocowboy

my favourite XLR plugs are in order of performance:

Neutrik silver plated (better resolution than gold plated, best price/performance ratio)

Vampire Gold plated ( if you prefer the warmer sound of gold plated, approx $12/pcs at soniccraft or partsconnexion.)

ETI Kyro silver ( if you looking for max. resolution)

Besides Neutrik XLR plugs, what other brands do you recommend?

PC TripleC /EX has a forged Silver Sheath onto the Wire.
It is not Cheap, SAEC are charging $900 Dollars for Tag Wires.

I have a length to Strip and produce Tag Wires and Tonearm Wires from.
I am also hoping there is enough to use internally within the Monoblock Amp's when they are modified to become a Balanced Design.

Transphorm Increases Noise Immunity and Reduces Switching Noise with Third Generation GaN Power Conversion Platform
https://www.transphormusa.com/en/news/transphorm-increases-noise-immunity-reduces-switching-noise-third-generation-gan-power-conversion-platform/

Simply give any GaN-based USB-C wall chargers a try, IsoTek Blue Horizon was showing 710 → 254 → 129 → 091 after this particular one was thrown into the mix:

https://streamable.com/9ezeba
https://www.facebook.com/ho.keung.18/videos/249065390005674

Some gadgets would reduce the noise, others could go the opposite direction and IMHO that's why it's so much fun to experiment:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmYeG5ziTi4

BTW, there's a big brother of PC-Triple C in Japan and hopefully PC-Triple C/EX would perform even better:

https://www.sengoku.co.jp/mod/sgk_cart/detail.php?code=EEHD-5L3X

So, I am not one for "Gadgets’, especially gadgets that come in really small sizes and make claims of improving sound quality, just by simply plugging them into the mains outlet

But a contact assured me that this particular gadget would make a difference.

I researched all the various brands that sell these gadgets and decided to try the ifi AC Purifier, simply because its description of how it works made some sense.

AC iPurifier Mains Audio Noise Eliminator - iFi Audio (thecableco.com)

It takes the same principle of noise cancelling headphones and applies it to the mains supply. i.e. if it detects noise it generates a signal of the same amplitude as the noise, but 180 degrees out of phase and injects it back into the power supply - therefore cancelling the noise, leaving you with no noise at all (OK very little noise at all)

And guess what? - it works - at least on my system

But since I have my system kitted out with Helix power cables that do much of the heavy lifting, with respect to eliminating noise , what’s left for the little gadget to do?

Well turns out - not a heck of a lot - HOWEVER, what it does do is finish off what the Helix cables started - i.e. get rid of noise that is not the product of the insulation and cable geometry, that can sometimes filter through to the components of a system from the mains supply

So to cut to the chase - I observed some minor improvements...

• a more focused image
• a deeper image
• a little more articulation, clarity and resolution
• a few more details in the area of venue acoustics
• the gadget takes a couple of days to stop sounding harsh
• you have to try it plugged into different outlets for best results

Is it worth its price point? I thought it was

If you already have a power conditioner in the system then it would probably be of little benefit (if at all)

I initially tried it on the wall outlet and did not notice any improvement, but I have a 10 ft Helix extension cable that connects to to a Distribution box and my amp, so my guess is 10 ft is too far to have any effect

I plug my source components into the power distribution box, so I used a spare outlet on that box and it worked for both sources.

The manual states you can employ multiple of these across your system, but to date I have only tried a single unit.

I also tried it on

• my Bluesound Pulse Mini speaker - there were no perceivable benefits, but the resolution capabilities of this speaker is much lower than my system
• a friends All-Tube system - there were fewer improvements observed here also.

On my own system, the level of improvements seemed to be more noticeable only on the finer end of its resolution capability i.e. the incredibly fine venue acoustic reverberations/echoes and the very subtle improvement in imaging focus and artist placement.

For the record - It did not provide an "OMG" moment on my system

• the improvements were very subtle, but noticeable
• I guess it really depends how much noise is on your power supply
• It may also provide a more noticeable benefit on systems that do not have Helix Cables

Anyhow - since the Helix geometry is all about eradicating noise, I felt the ifi AC Purifier was worth a mention

Happy Listening - Steve

@mawe - RE: Wire Purity..- there is one minor addition to your purity rating

99.995% is represented as 4N5.- please see this link

• Explanation of “Nines” Regarding Metal Purity | Indium Corporation® | Indium Corporation Blogs | Indium

Unfortunately I could find any mention of the purity of the VH Audo copper wire

The the Parts Connexion Bare Copper wire is 6N and their Bare Silver wire is 5N - same as the VH Audio Wire

Is there a discernible difference between 5N and 6N?

• I have tried both VH Audio copper wire and Neotech copper wire - bare, inside Teflon tubes and there appeared to be no difference between the two. 
• Unfortunately I was unable to find the purity rating for either of these two wires
• However, changing to the Parts Connexion 6N bare copper wire provided  noticeable improvements in the areas of clarity, image and dynamics.
• All of the UP-OCC wires were noticeably better than Mundorf Silver + 1% Gold wire - which is basically only 99% pure - so it's only 2N

But you are correct in that there is a very noticeable difference between OFC and OCC copper wires in the areas of details, clarity, dynamics and image

There is also a noticeable difference between Cotton insulation vs. Teflon insulation, on the exact same wire - in the areas of clarity and image

So your choice of VH Audio Solid Silver Wire in Cotton is perhaps the best that can currently be achieved for an insulated wire.

The AIR adaption (i.e. bare wire inside a Teflon tube) is perhaps the ultimate in wire performance, but I found it can sound a little analytical if used for both the signal and neutral wires, so I reverted back to the Silver Plated copper Mil-spec wire for the neutral conductor on my speaker cables.

• But the power cables use Neotech UP-OCC stranded copper wire with Teflon insulation for the neutral 
• and the interconnects use 16 gauge Neotech solid UP-OCC copper  with Teflon insulation for the neutral

My own preference is for copper - at this point in time

• purely from a cost perspective
• and ever since trying the UP-OCC coppers, which I found to provide exceptional performance.

I have tried Mundorf solid silver (1% gold) wires for the signal (interconnects) and Live (power cables), but I believe the 6N OCC copper  to be superior to a more "normal grade" of silver wire and is considerably less expensive.

I have not yet had the desire to part with my hard earned cash for the  solid silver wire from VH Audio - a little too rich for my budget :-)

But as is said many times on Audiogon - "sound quality" is very subjective, so I encourage people to try different wires for themselves.

Regards - Steve