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 

As I continue to convert into Helix I am now looking to replace the current Helix speaker cables built with commodity PVC/stranded cable with proper materials for the tweeter cables: from a 2W 45-type SET amp directly into AMT tweeters. I'm thinking smaller gauge materials would be fine, but wanted to check in here before I spend $1k on materials.

I'm planning to buy: 2x 18 AWG (instead of 2x16) solid UP-OCC bare copper wire in PTFE tubbing for signal, and 14 AWG (instead of 12 AWG) stranded UP-OCC with PTFE insulation for neutral. My thinking is the small current for the tweeters shouldn't benefit much for increased diameters. Good idea?

Can I use a smaller diameter fiberglass rod for an overall smaller diameter cable?

Thank you!

@lewinskih01 - apologies for the delay in responding - I haven’t been monitoring this thread (or any others) of late.

The 2 x 18 gauge is effectively 15 gauge, which is more than enough for speaker cables of any size.

  • early on I compared a single 16 gauge wire to a single 14 gauge wire and could not tell the difference on my full range speakers

The wires you have selected should be fine and I would use a 5/16" rod - this should not impact performance

Regars - Steve

Double 18 AWG in teflon tubing for speaker cables was a real upgrade to my ears but not until I have swapped the KLE bananas plugs for some rolled berylium copper gold plated ones. The KLE were not compatible with my Bryston 4B amp. While I love KLE RCA connectors, their bananas plugs were too short and didn’t made proper contact due to their lack of stiffness. The new plugs were crimped and then soldered with Mundorf Silver/Gold solder.

I have an extra set of 8 new KLE banana plugs if someone needs it. The used plugs can also go as well. PM me if you are interested.