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  3. 156742-1458

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
williewonka
3,071 posts
 

@abolive - I have use the 'V' shape, but I generally tend to solder onto the flat spot.

  • for solid wire I place a small 90 degree turn at the end of the wire and insert that into the 'V'
    • I didn;t find it made any difference, from a sound persoective, but I suspect it is a weaker joint, as there is not as much solder in the joint
    • you can clip off any excess wire after soldering
  • For stranded wire you can create a small :"V: shape" in the end of the wire and insert one :'V'  at 90 degrees into the other
    • it makes a better joint for stranded wire

Hope that helps - Steve

 

 

williewonka
3,071 posts
 

@pindac - I took a look at the QED low eddy plug and it is very similar, in priciple, to the KLEI RCA...

  • The neutral contact design is very small
  • the signal contact design is tubular

So I believe a low mass style of RCA, like the KLEI RCA, would also benefit from a reduction in eddy anomolies.

The one benefit I found with the KLEI RCA is that an interconnect using them can be used as a digital link without having to worry about impedance matching.

  • I do not know whether this is due to the impedance of the KLEI RCA or
  • whether all low mass/eddy RCA’s can be used in this manner.
  • But with more conventional RCA, it is often mentioned that there are :reflections within the cables if the impedance is not matched

Also, I have used DIY Helix cables using the KLE RCA, in lengths from 18" to 6ft, as a digital link and they outperformed my Van Del Hul impedance matched cables specifically designed as a digital cable.

  • there was no difference in sound quality between the different length of DIY Helix cables
    • so the thoughts often shared on the web that Digital cables should be of a specific length does not seem to apply when using the KLEI RCA with the Helix DIY Geometry
  • Unfortunately, I have no experience with Low Eddy RCA’s, so I cannot provide input as to whether they would perform as well as KLEI RCA’s when used for this purpose.

Any Thoughts? Steve

lemonhaze
410 posts
 

@williewonka, Hi Steve, a friend has asked me to make speaker cables for his system. The speakers are my design at 96dB sensitivity and driven by a Manley Stingray tube amp providing 40W ultralinear and 25W triode-connected which is how it is always used.

I have some Acoustic Revive cable which is twin 19awg. The red insulation they use is very easily removed by simply freeing one end and pulling, so no nasty nicks from a trim blade. Used as the live = 16awg with 16awg TFA wire for neutral. Would this, in your experience, be enough to adequately drive the speakers? If not I could add a 3rd wire the same as the other 2 bringing the copper cross section of the live wire to 1.96mm sq. closer to 14awg. This is more trouble and expense but will do if that’s what is needed.

While shopping for ptfe tube I came across some ePTFE which is aerated. I emailed them for the Dk which they claimed between 1.3 - 1.5. It may be useful.

 

williewonka
3,071 posts
 

@lemonhaze - the 16 gauge signal would be fine, but I would double up on the neutral. The Helix works best if the neutral is a heavier gauge than the signal conductor.

or buy some 14 gauge from TFA

regards

abolive
21 posts
 

@williewonka thank you for your help.

Do you think doubling for xlr would be as interesting as it is with RCA?

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