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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
Post removed 
williewonka
3,071 posts
 
@dbass - I have reverted back to the original Helix design - i.e.
  • LIVE: - 2 x 14 gauge each wire inside a Teflon tube
  • NEUTRAL: - 1 x 10 gauge silver plated stranded Mil-Spec

After giving this approach a lot more audition and thought, I have concluded it should only be used for those amps that have balanced symmetrical speaker outputs.

Spacing the +ve and -ve wire conductor assemblies is an issue and the best/cost effective approach I could think of is to wind a separate coil for each conductor assembly in counter rotating directions - which
  • prevents the coils from becoming entangled
  • maintains some cable flexibility
  • minimizes the impact to dielectric constant
  • is affordable provided home deport wire is used

Using Solid UP-OCC bare copper wire inside Teflon tubes for both +ve and -ve conductor assemblies will provide extremely detailed and articulate results, but since audiophiles are looking for a more "musical sound" this approach may NOT provide the outcome some may be looking for
  • I would recommend using a Teflon insulated UP-OCC solid copper wire or even a stranded UP-OCC copper wire with Teflon insulation.
But on those amps that use a more "conventional" design approach and best suited to the original Helix geometry - this construction method will
  • complicate fabrication considerably
  • make the cable very stiff
  • offers little benefit WRT "sound quality"
  • does not result in any significant cost savings (i.e. if Mil-spec wire is used on a Helix Cable)
It also cannot be "effectively" applied to Interconnects or power cables.

Hope hat helps - Steve.


dbass
29 posts
 
Thx Steve
eugeniy
6 posts
 
"Not everything in this particular scenario was "equal"
  • one cable used a 2 x 16 gauge twisted pair inside a teflon tube (i.e. for the signal wire)
  • the other use 2 x 14 gauge with each wire inside it’s own teflon tube (i.e. for the neutral wire)
  • this may have accounted for my observation
This was a test just to get an "idea" of what might be possible using the wires/cables at hand and my normal "rigour" was not applied, so I will reserve my "complete judgment" once I get to make up a cable using the approach described above - but it does look very promising.

The saga continues :-)"
            Steve, I think this design is very good! In my opinion, in this case, you need to use other connectors to search for musicality.
Best regards, Evgeny 
williewonka
3,071 posts
 
@eugeniy - agreed - connectors can also be changed to "tune" a systems to one’s personal preferences.

However, I think that changing a connector may not provide as much of a change as one might desire, i.e. compared to changing a significantly longer piece of wire.

The KLE Bananas that I prefer are the most articulate and musical connectors I have tried, closely followed by the Silver plated pure copper Furez connectors.

I prefer to use connectors that are silver plated pure copper, as opposed to some type of copper alloy, like Beryllium copper or Tellurium Copper, because of their reduced conductivity.

With connectors, you are limited to the materials that are available, which tends to be a subset of what is available with wire. Then factor in the complexity of the various plating materials and processes that are available and how they also impact sound quality and selecting the right connectors to satisfy your personal sound preference becomes more challenging.

But that does not mean it should not be considered
  • it just adds to the complexity of a cable build and connector selection procedures
  • but it can be faster than replacing a piece of wire and more cost effective

However, in the case of Interconnects - selecting something other than the KLE Innovations Harmony RCA’s will degrade their performance significantly if used on a Digital SPDIF interconnect

Regards - Steve



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