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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
mawe
34 posts
 
@ abolive

""RE: RCA to XLR...

OK - so there is no real great solution for this setup. You can create a cable with RCA at one end and XLR at the other. The Helix geometry is probably one of the better geometries for this because of the lack of noise in the cable.
On the XLR end
- Pin #1 would connect the neutral coil and 
- Pin #2 would connect the signal wire
- pin #3 left unconnected

Hope that answers your questions

Regards - Steve""

I have always connected pin 3 as well to the pin 1 in the XLR connector.
Both will work, have a try, what sounds best to your equipement.
mawe
34 posts
 
@ marcus87

living in Europe, I have made my low powered pc's with 2x 16 AWG OCC Neo unstriped like this:

Life = 2x 16 AWG OCC Neo in PTFE twisted 1x every inch clockwise.

Spacer = 1 x 15 AWG (1,5sqmm) solid core groundwire (green-yellow) from home depot with PVC insulation (cheap) coiled on a 6mm dia rod clockwise ratio 3,5:1. Slide the life wire into that coil. This is only connected to wall plug, as ist acts purely as a spacer.

Neutral (and grd if needed) = coiled anti-clockwise on a 12mm rod. I used Jantzen silver plated 4N copper in PTFE as well.
Slide it over the Life/GND construction.
This way, the space between life and neutral wire is very even.

A low cost version I have tested as well (use it on my diy power supply for 5V DC for my amazon fire stick and on the 5V DC for my ethernet/fibre-optic converters).

Instead of the expansive OCC Neo wire I have used the Jantzen 6N OFC copper speaker cable (2 x 1,0sqmm / 17 AWG) as live conductor.
Coiled a 1,5sqmm GND wire as spacer (as above) and the Jantzen silver platted copper 1,3sqmm x 2 as neutral.
Note: The Jantzen speaker cable is only approved for max 80 V, so you can not use it as a power cord when connecting  the 2 internal wires one to life and one to neutral !!!

It sounds not quite as open as the OCC Neo, more pleasing which can be a good thing in some applications.
abolive
21 posts
 
@williewonka thank you for this feedback And @mawe thank you guys
markus87
2 posts
 
Thanks a lot @williewonka for your reply!

@mawe I am from Europe as well... Going to order at audiophonics.

Spacer = 1 x 15 AWG (1,5sqmm) solid core groundwire (green-yellow) from home depot with PVC insulation (cheap) coiled on a 6mm dia rod clockwise ratio 3,5:1. Slide the life wire into that coil. This is only connected to wall plug, as ist acts purely as a spacer.
So if I understand correctly, you use the 15AWG gnd wire only as a spacer between live and neutral. Shouldn't this mean that you are NOT connecting it to any plug?

Do you use a cotton sleeve on the live wire on top?

This concept sounds interesting, have you compared it to the original design? What benefits does it bring? Better handling/stability of the cord? Better sonics?

Do you use a 2.5 to 3:1 ratio for neutral to live as well?

Cheers,
Markus 


mawe
34 posts
 
@ markus87

I have always connected the “spacer-wire” at the mains plugs side together with the GND wire.
If there is a EM field inducted from the “life” conductor to the spacer, this will be fed to ground.

Main reasons I do this are, more equal spacing between life and neutral and it gives the whole construction a more solid fit. The Jantzen wire for neutral is not as easy to work with as if it would be with a solid core wire.

No, in this construction I do not cover the life wire with anything else.

I have made more than a dozen different Helix PCs with different wires and they all sound slightly different.
This Design is with my ears and my equipment the best compromise in terms of “sound” and “construction”. 
On the “air” (wire without insulation) design and on other designs I had used  2 Teflon tubes (6mm and 12mm) to create a kind of “spacer” to keep the neutral away from the life conductors.
I think the coiled GND wire is at least equal and easier and more cost effective.

I use a 3:1 ratio.

I used different plugs, and these “sound” more different, than some of the different constructions.
The SonarQuests silver plated are very open. On some applications I prefer the Furutech FI-15 (G) IEC connector, as it is easier to work with and has a more “solid” sound signature. And for Schuko plugs I used either SonarQuest, Wattgate or Hifituning. Later 2 are easier to work with. 
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