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
@sasho - re: Where from we can purchase teflon tube I get mine from PArts Connecxion or Take Five Audio The diameter of 12 AWG wire is 2.053 mm or 0.0808 inches Add 25% and you are looking for an internal diameter of approxiately 2.5mm or 0.1 inches. Unfortunately, I just checked and none of my original sources appear to sell this size any longer, so I would search the web for this size tubing Regards - Steve
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@williewonka You are absolutely correct to encourage protection of a Warranty. These small sureties are valuable to have available. I myself am long overdue on any security on offer. All individuals involved in the planning and application are EE's either from the original build and willing to add to their design or the EE behind the new designs to be put in place. Double ,Helix ,has a place in this, I thinks anyways |
Hi williewonka, a belated return to thread, sometimes life gets in the way. I’m now about to turn my attention to power cables and would like recommendations from you for a schuko plug, perhaps an all out best and next best. I have been thoroughly enjoying the interconnects I made and on a visit to an audio show in Dublin I took along a pair of cables on the off chance I could compare them to some expensive and well regarded big name stuff as a sanity check. The most impressive was the all Gryphon room, all Gryphon cabling. They do not entertain the idea of anything else. The system comes at about Euro 250000 The chap in attendance named Rune agreed to the comparison at end of day. Analogue was via XLR and so I used one of my pair for digital which accepted RCA. My wife, Rune and I sat front center in that order and listened for about 20 minutes to a variety of music. The Gryphon cable was XLR so we set it via remote 3dB lower and did swap overs on the fly. Well, hmmm, very little difference was heard. My wife said she watched his face and that he looked a bit shocked. I heard slightly more assertive chords on grand piano, bass and treble too close to call. When I asked Rune what he heard he said tonality, it’s in the tone. Well he had to say something, his boss was standing near! I asked the boss his impression who said it had been a long day and wasn’t really listening. The Gryphon cable sells for Euro 5000 so this is a sterling effort from you considering his cables had been running all day and mine played with no settling time at all.
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Well done @lemonhaze !
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@norco74, thanks. The design works beautifully and I envisage not resting until I finally have replaced all cables in my system with the helix geometry. I have recently added a Townshend Platform under my Oppo 103 which has provided an excellent upgrade to the sound, think along the improvement gained from the helix cable. A further lowering of the noise floor. Uses springs according to the component or speaker's weight. Very different from the cones and spikes mistake of the 80's. They are pricey though. Got mine second hand.
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