Looking for really fine cables at really low price
I have been listening to excellent sounding Exemplar exception cables for the last several weeks. While my HFCables are better they are also much more expensive than the below $500 cables.
They offer an excellent sound stage, dynamics, and top to bottom quality sound. Not only are they inexpensive but they are very portable and easy to install.
Ozzy, I know they are great, but for $50 you may prefer the Duelund DIY ic’s. Worth a try and based on my experience, considerable experience, you will be more than pleased.
Mikirob, did you mod your amp with the Blue or Green Arizona caps? Do you like them? Resolving? I am looking at them for a tube amp project.
Bill, I have a hard time time keeping up with your various speaker changes, LaHave , Harbeths 40.1 and now the Cresendo (for how long?) 😊. Just kidding with you Bill. Congratulations on your AZ Cresendo, I've heard them on three separate occasions and I feel they are a superb speaker without question. Granted it was with the same amplifier each time (the simply wonderful Triode Corp parallel SET 845). The clock is ticking on how long you'll keep them as I know your restless soul 😊😊. Charles
Hi Jet, It's good to hear from you. I was under the impression that you had passed on the Kondo cable in favor of the W.E. wires. No doubt that the Kondo is excellent and goes straight to the musical soul. I came oh so close to buying the used Kondo silver cables but bought the use Ocellia Silver Reference instead. I'm sure that I'd be just as happy with either. We can't own everything. Charles
Grannyring, yes I modified the Coincident Dynamo with the Green Cactus plus Ohmite Brrown Devil resistors per Yazaki-san design. My brother did the work as I looked over his shoulder and of course he gave me a good-natured ribbing for being so inept at this sort of thing since high school; so, I had to remind him that I was the much better musician...the Coinincident Dynamo is much more resolving, yet retains all the musically plus I crave, natural tone, color saturation, fullness without bloat, beautiful well delineated stage, harmonic rightness, voices and Jazz to die for. The guitar strums so much better, important to me as one of my relatives played on many Elvis, Rosemary Clooney, Doris Day, and many other artists during the forties and fifties. I also have some of the best tubes possible in the amp. Forgot to mention that I also implemented a NOS Mallory capacitor that Yazaki-san sent.
Hi Charles, without doubt I like the DeVore the best by a fair margin. But boy, that Harbeth is a nice alternative when in a different part of the house. Best, Rob
Hi Charles, around the first of the year I settled on Kondo ICs. After I finished the amp chassis with copper, aluminum and much less wood I also went back to the Audio Note Lexus speaker cable and like the sound so much I haven't had any interest in changing cables since around May 2016. As the sound of my amp has changed so has my taste in cable. But now my curiosity is peaked after reading about the Duelund 16g...and it's so cheap....why not!
Hi Jet, Yes I understand how changing one aspect of your system undoubtedly affects other component and audio accessory choices,. It's all intertwined for sure . Have you heard anything from Brett (Isochronism) recently? He hasn't posted here in a long time, hope he's doing well. Charles
Charles I moved to Nashville and lost my music room. My music room is now also our living room. My wife really disliked the look of the 40.1s and was fine with the Cresendo. She also likes the sound as we both heard them at a show together. She felt they were the best sounding speakers of the show! Anyway, I found a set for a great price and we both love them. She listens more with me now and not having a dedicated music room turned out to be a blessing.
Bill, Congratulations on your move from Minnesota to Tennessee and its much milder winters. You wife obviously has very good ears and taste. The Crescendos score high in regard to sound quality and appearance. I suspect that given her feelings towards the Crescendo they are going to be around for a long time. What amplifier are you using with them? Given your penchant for modifications, do you have any in store for these speakers? Charles
Positive Feedback will have Jeff Day review of Frederick Carole's Duelund DCA16ga tinned copper wire up in the Nov/Dec issue. If you can not wait you can read a preview of the review at: jeffsplace.me where Jeff Day gives much history as well as a fabulous review. Best, Rob
The Duelund 16g stranded speaker wire arrived on Thursday and I made interconnects using canare f10 RCA plugs. They'll burn in for two weeks in the back room. will report back.
I pulled apart The WE16g wire that was used as interconnects in the back room and put some of it in my amp as hook up wire. Specifically in the power supply b+ and power supply to ground. Been in there since Tuesday and so far I like it. It's sound has been changing a bit everyday so it's too soon to say anything for sure.
Charles, Brett and I have texted a few times in the past few months. Iast I heard he was in a new place and going to build a system in there but I don't know if he has finished it.
grannyring, you will love the Duelund wire as speaker cables. I bought a lot if it when it initially came out. Yes, it is "crazy good stuff." Best, Rob
grannyring, yes, I like it a lot, but sent that WE10ga to my brother who is working in Germany for the next couple or more years. He bought some new stuff over there and he is really enjoying the WE10ga speaker cables. I believe he is going to give the Dueland DCA16GA a try as well as the Dueland 16ga interconnect Parts Connection is offering. Likely he will build his own. How is your new place in TN working out for you sound wise? Absolute Best to You. I really like the power cables you build. Rob
Dual (i.e., double run bi-wired) twisted pairs of thee WE 10awg here for speaker cables and a quad version (i.e., 4 twisted WE 10awg wires for pos and neutral, plus 2 more for ground - 6 wires total) for power cords to my Class A monoblocks. Really like the sound. In the process of making some twisted pair shielded power cords from the WE 10awg for front-end digital gear.
Have also tried versions of using the WE 16awg and WE 14awg for speaker cables.
I still believe the 16awg wire probably sounds great with low to moderate powered amps as used by Jeff Day and others but IMO it is hard to beat the larger 10awg for big solid state amps.
The sound of the Duelund wire on higher powered amplifiers may further improve if configured as a twisted four-wire star-quad providing 13awg per pole. Even better bi-wiing with two quads per speaker.
Has anyone tried braiding 8 or more of the 16awg wire as done by Kimber or Jena?
Strange as the WE10 gauge is the polar opposite of sizzle and sibilance in my rig. Smooth highs and tons of body. I don't terminate mine however. Just bare wire best.
Any feedback on sonic differences between the Belden 8402 and Duelund 16GA interconnects? Which is more extended at the top end? How about bass slam? Listening taste almost solely Jazz female vocals and acoustic instrumental especially piano and acoustic guitar. Thanks.
pc123v, Really not even close IMHO. The 16GA is far more extended and open. Far more transparent while retaining all of the wonderful musicality of the Belden. The Belden is good, but next to the Duelund it is rather too dark and muddy sounding.
Thanks for your feedback. If I may...I have a few more questions.
What kind of connectors did you use? Did you experiment with different types of connectors and what were your findings? I am seeking the vintage tone of the Duelunds but I have to be real careful with HF extension and energy...not too much...:) I am ok with an IC having an open SQ. Are your Duelunds shielded at both ends?
After 12 days with the WE16gauge installed as hook up wire in the b+ and power supply ground, where the sound was changing everyday, the sound is much more natural than the 12guage GE wire it replaced. The tinnyness of the GE is gone, but I am hearing a lack of clarity, a veiled sound in the lower mids that was not there before. Will leave it in for a few more days. I have ordered 3ft of 14guage solid core silver wire to try in the power supply ground. If that sounds good I'll have enough of the silver left to install into the b+.
the Duelund 16g interconnects don't sound fully broken in after 125 hours. Will leave them burning in the back room for another week.
Interesting as clarity is a trait that rates very high with this wire in my system. System synergy is everything however. Please update us as you learn more!
I have not tried a shielding the wire as yet for use as ICs.
For those wanting to try the Duelund wire as interconnect, I suggest waiting until the new small gauge Duelund wire is available early next year. It should have greater potential than the 16g.
I have posted a few times that my experiences with WE wire as speaker cable were not successful. I reached the same conclusion with the Duelund 16g wires. While the Duelund is clearly better than the WE, it still falls short of what I consider acceptable in terms of resolution, tonal balance and micro-dynamics.
I decided to give the Duelund a final chance by trying it with Furutech spades rather than with bare ends. If this causes me to change my opinion on the Duelund, I will post a follow-up comment. I just ordered the spades so I will take me a couple weeks.
Salectric, you have been the minority view all throughout the WE16ga and Duelund DCA16ga reviews which generally get rave reviews overwhelmingly. I can only speak for myself, and I find these cables and interconnect to be wonderful. As the audiophile community is fond of saying, "YMMV"; I encourage audiophiles looking for really excellent cables at a lower price to give them a try. Jeff Day, Jack Roberts (The Beatnik of Dagogo) chose them over $15,000 High Fidelity cables in his system, Jim Smith (guru of "how to get better sound") plus many more credible audiophiles apparently really like this wire. Read Jeff Day review in this month's Positive-feedback. Best, Rob
Rob, you're right, I have been the minority view throughout. But I find it interesting that my complaints about the WE16 are now acknowledged as the areas where the Duelund improved on the WE. The majority apparently didn't hear these limitations until they heard the Duelunds.
My opinion has been the same all along: the WE and Duelund are great values but they are not world-beaters as some people claim. And my opinion is based on what I hear with my own ears, not what some other hobbyist says on his blog. Magazine reviewers, ezine writers and bloggers serve a function in that they can introduce others to products they might not hear about otherwise, but when it comes to drawing conclusions about how something sounds I only trust my own ears.
Well the Duelund 16ga is a world beater as an IC.....in my rig. I have not tried it as speaker cable. The WE10ga makes world class speaker cable in my rig. I like it much better than the WE16. Better tone and body for sure.
Always system dependent. A world beater in one system may be just OK in another. That happens with all manner of wire and gear. I think we all get that.
I love the Duelund 16ga as IC wire! Perfect in my system.
My findings are similar to Salectrics although I didn’t hear it immediately. I spent months with WE16 but once I rebuilt my amp on a copper/aluminum subchassis and listened to Kondo ICs and Audio note Lexus Speakers cables I preferred that synergy.
Tonight WE16 hook up wire in my Power Supply sounds cleaner than it did yesterday and so it needs more burn in time. I remember how long WE wire needed to burn in as interconnects so it should have been no surprise. There are no absolutes in hi end audio...change one thing and other elements get thrown out of balance. Removing the bleeder resistor from my amp’s power supply has done just that. After hearing it without the bleeder with more freedom and dynamics I wouldn’t put it back in but I’ve opened up another can of worms too. I am guessing a bleeder, besides bleeding voltage from capacitors is also a form of power supply regulation. A regulated power supply has a sound just like a non regulated power supply has a different sound. This is something Salectric has talked to me about. Don’t always assume just because your electronics have a regulated power supply it’s always going to sound great.
Jet, did you use the new Duelund 16ga wire? It is better than the WE16. I am referring to the new Duelund wire.
I love the fact both you and Salectric are open minded enough to try this wire. Not everyone is. The new Duelund wire is wonderful for ICs. I will try the thinner gauge per Salectric comments when it is available.
Granny, my speaker cable is a Wireworld Eclipse, the original version that dates back to the 1990s. I have tried many other cables over the years but I always return to the Eclipse.
Grannyring it's fun trying out this vintage wire. It hasn't worked out as well for me as it has for others but it's not surprising since I have audio note speakers and audio note output transformers on my amp that audio note wire might work better for me.
I am using the WE 16 as hook up wire not duelund. I hate the amount of time it takes to break this wire in so I'm going to try something different this time. I've got more Duelund wire coming as well as the solidcore 14 gauge silver wire so I'll make power cords out of both of them and burn them in that way so when I'm ready to install them inside of my amp as hook up wire the burn in time should be less.
I realize this is off-topic but for those who might be interested in trying different resistors in their tube electronics, I highly recommend the new Audio Note Silver tantalum resistors. They are only available as 2 watt and so may not be suitable for all applications.
I have gradually been converting my electronics over to use the AN Silvers in most critical spots, and I have been very pleased with the improved sound quality each time. The Silvers have greater resolving power, better micro-dynamics and better transparency than the resistors they replaced which include older style Audio Note Tantalums, Mills wirewounds and others. Unfortunately they take a long time to break in, 100 hours or more. Both PartsConnexion in Canada and Hifi Collective in UK carry the full range of Audio Note resistors.
Has anyone made Balanced IC's with Duelund 16 gage wire, if so what to use for shielding? I am using Belden 8402 Balanced IC's right now, but would like to try Duelund. Thanks.
I have made many balanced cables with other wire. Just use tinned copper braid shield for shielding. Order about a third to a half longer length than your signal cables since it will become shorter as it expands. There are other aspects you will want to consider such as whether to simply twist the two signal wires together or to wind them around a core, whether to place the ground inside or outside of the shield (outside is my preference), and whether to connect the shield at both ends or at only the source end (source end only is my preference). I have had great luck with Furutech FP-601M and FP-602F connectors (I like gold but they can be had in rhodium also). Good luck.
No, you don't need shrink wrap but I would recommend a techflex covering over the braid shield. DIY'ers don't always consider the effects of long-term wear and tear. Some manufacturers would probably put the twisted pair inside of some type of tube, or an elaborate wrapping material, before putting them inside of the copper braid shield, so that repeated bending and rubbing couldn't possibly cause wearing of the cotton sheath over the conductors. Most manufactured products also use filler materials so there are no wires flopping around inside of the assembly. You might want to consider a middle ground by wrapping the conductors in teflon tape. To be clear on the construction, my recommendation is to shield the conductors inside of a tinned copper braid shield connected only at the source end and a full sized (same gauge as the conductors) ground wire counter-spiraled outside of the braid shield and connected at both ends.
Some might say the shield is not needed and creates more sonic problems than it solves. It would be simple to make up a pair without the shield to get a feel for how they will sound...you can always add the shield, techflex, heatshrink etc. later. I have never had a problem with shields, either on bulk cables I have terminated or on cables I have constructed from basic wire and other materials.
Regarding wire gauge, there are too many theories to get into here on both gauge and geometry, but I suggest you look some stuff up on this forum and other web-places. Many would think the 16awg wire to be too thick for interconnects. However, Furutech's FA-alpha S22 is actually a little larger than 16awg so it is not unheard of. Many manufacturers use wire gauges in the 18 to 26awg range. This Duelund or WE wire is inexpensive to try so, why not? The connectors can be expensive but if you don't like the result then just take them apart and reuse the connectors on your next experiment. If you want to pay less than the cost of the Furutech FP-601/602 series, try their FP-705/706 series of connectors, which are also quite good for the money.
Are you saying that just connect Pin 2, put the shield on and connect only at source to Pin 1, and then wrap another 16 gauge Duelund on the shield and connect to Pin 3 on both ends? Just want to make sure I understand, not an expert on this. Just ordered Furutech 601, and 602, and wire from PartsConnexion, they have 25
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