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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
provst's avatar
provst
16 posts
 
@mawe

Highly inspiring and informative post!
I sincerely thank you for the wealth of experience you’re sharing.

You’re absolutely correct, when stating the requirements for PE, N and L here in Europe. I hadn’t put sufficient notice to this part, as I was inspirationally and blindly following the adventures of Steve and others. The legislation in US can of course be totally different, as they are running at lower voltage.
Now - situation is quite clear. If I want to run double helixes on Neutral, I will also have to have a double run of PE to fulfill requirements. Not the way to go..There is also another requirement stating that Live conductor cannot be less than half of PE. That requirement is fulfilled though.
Thus - suddenly reinvestment in Neotech was cut by half when only one helix is appropriate and correct.

Great information on solid core vs stranded vs size in conjunction to sound quality.
Would you mind detailing how you made a balanced interconnect using the principles of VH Audio? I studied their description, but it did not sound as a straight and easy path to follow.
I can easily convert the balanced cable on trial here, as I have double helixes, so it will be quite simple to take them apart in two separate strings. So far I have only used Duelund 20GA and 18GA Neotech UP-OCC copper as signal (ve+ and ve-) and mil spec as helix. I’m not sure I have hit the right combination yet, which is why your take on a balanced cable could provide some new insights. So far Neutrik has been the choice of connector while in trial mode, but Oyaide is in for the more permanent setup.

provst's avatar
provst
16 posts
 
@aniwolfe 

I fully agree. 
Steve is definitely on the path of Neotech now.
I was just curious about why he had skipped the second helix for Neutral when using Neotech. That was one of my original two questions.
mawe
34 posts
 
@ provst reg VH Audio balanced IC

http//www.venhaus1.com/diysilverinterconnects.html

basically it is the above linked design.

I use to buy a 6 mm twisted robe from home depot which consists of min 3 smaller robes twisted together. (1€/m). 
I than cover the robe with plumber- PTFE tape by twisting it around the robe over the full length. This prevents the robe to "split" when coiling the wire onto it and does a kind of insulation from the base material of the robe, which mostly is a kind of PE material. This robe should now show 3 "grooves" twisting along the run of the robe.
These "grooves" are now my "spacers" between the +, - and GND wires.
I then prepare the conductors by using 2 wires (1x 28 and 1x 24 AWG of 7N OCC silver in cotton for + and -) and twist them by hand, 1 twist every 1 cm.
Then I twist these double conductors along the robe in the grooves of the robe. After doing this for the 3 wires I use again the plumber PTFE tape and run this twice over the whole construction. This does a kind of fixation of the conductors to reduce "vibrations" from external and internal and gives it a neat look.
provst's avatar
provst
16 posts
 
@mawe 

Excellent - just as Chris Venhaus describes his cable.

I’m contemplating mixing things and design principles up a bit. Incorporate Steve’s idea by twisting the 28GA and 24GA as you describe, put them into Teflon tubes, intertwine them and make a double helix from 24 and 22GA Neotech UP-OCC PTFE. Could prove worthwhile....?!

Are you using solid core or stranded wire from Neotech for the ground wires?
williewonka
3,071 posts
 
  • OK, so let's take a look at the history of the Helix

  1. I first started the Helix design with a single Live or Signal wire and that had a thicker gauge neutral - approximately twice the gauge
  2. The thicker gauge neutral provided significant sonic benefits
  3. The power cables having a thicker gauge neutral looked strange, so I used two 12 gangue neutrals ONLY to have a thicker neutral - nothing to do with the double shotgun approach
  4. Then the double shotgun approach was introduced for the interconnect signal and neutral wires, but I found that one soruce sounded better with a double signal wire and a single neutral wire
  5. The double live was then introduced into the Power cables, which already had a double neutral anyway 
  6. The speaker cables adopted the double signal wire, but kept the 10 gauge neutral, however some people have adopted a 2 x 12 gauge neutral
  7. The "Air" was the latest revamp of the entire lineup
  8. Then following on from Wig's success with the Solid Neotech UP-OCC copper for the neutral on his power cables I then tried a single wire Solid UP-OCC Neotech on the Interconnect neutral and it too proved very good
  9. I then decided to try a single wire neutral  on my PC's using the stranded Neotech UP-OCC wire to see if it would provide improved sound just as the Solid Neotech wire had. 
  10. I chose stranded wire because the solid takes a lot of effort when stretching  the coils along the Live Conductor and I wanted to see if the stranded was easier - it was

So I posted my findings and @wig confirmed my observations were very similar to his single Neotech UP-OCC solid copper neutral.

Why did I choose not try a double helix neutral? Simply because Wig had used a single wire on his PC version and I wanted to see how the two wires compared.

So I hope that has cleared up why I chose to go with a single wire

So here I am with a mix of cables 

My interconnects
  • use a single 16 gauge solid UP-OCC Teflon Helix neutral 
  • with a bare 2 x 18 gauge solid UP-OCC  in teflon tube signal wire
MY speaker cables 
  • use a single 10 gauge mil-spec Helix neutral wire
  • with a bare 2 x 16 gauge UP-OCC copper in a teflon tube signal wire
My heavy duty power cables
  • use a single Helix 12 gauge stranded UP-OCC Teflon neutral
  • with a bare 2 x 14 gauge solid UP-OCC in teflon tube Live wire
My Source power cables
  • use a 2 x12 gauge stranded Mil-Spec neutral
  • with a bare 2 x 16 gauge solid UP-OCC in teflon tube Live wire
The sound my system now produces is stunning - better than any system I have auditioned

What has surprised me about the latest adaptions on the helix geometry is just how good the sound now is and I find it hard to believe that adding a second UP-OCC neutral to my Interconnects or my power cables will improve the sonic performance in a significant way - so I do not plan on changing my cables in the near future - I want to enjoy listening to some music - instead of listening for improvements.

But by all means, somebody try the dual UP-OCC neutral on the Interconnects and the dual stranded UP-OCC copper on the power cables and see if they sound significantly better then a single UP-OCC neutral.

Hope that answers the many questions raised in the last few posts

Regards - Steve


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