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
@roberttdid - yes it's infra red, but a pretty good one - for the amp I measured in two very specific places - on the faceplate near the heatsink and on the heatsink. Each time the music has been played for a similar length of time and at a similar volume level, with similar tracks.

Same process with the source components.

A similar experience was observed with the Bluesound Powernode 2 on my AV system and a couple of phono stages.

WRT:   Where it won't is say near a transformer in an aluminum case, or other incidences of magnetic coupling.

I try to keep my cables well away from transformers of any kind
:-)

Regards - Steve
@stringreen - very similar, but only their IC's - they employ different geometries for speaker and power cables

Regards - Steve
Unless you measured the volume level, this is almost the same as random. We can't remember volume levels with any accuracy and a few db of volume could be many degrees of temperature on the heat sinks.
similar volume level

Your cable is not going to make a bit of difference to the temp of the Powernode. It has a switching supply and nothing your cable does is going to make any difference to the efficiency except maybe make it worse.

w.r.t. the IR thermometer, they don't work well on anodized aluminum. Even on black anodized they are not very accurate. The only way to get accurate results on aluminum is to put paint on it, though a heavy permanent market can work okay as well.
@williewonka Thanks for sharing your design and actively answer questions about it.  I have built the interconnects and speaker cables and am enjoying them.  I am in the process of upgrading my system and these cables have given me a better sound than the old AQ interconnects and Duelund speaker cables I was using.  I can't wait to get a quality front end to my system to hear how the sound improves.
@ dbass

Congrats on the build!

They will Improve and sound even better once you get over 200 hours; low level detail, sound stage width and depth will be more noticeable...

Wig 👍