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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
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
3,075 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



tennesseejed
4 posts
 
Given the price of the solid silver wire, I am curious what you think about you all might think about this?


https://www.riogrande.com/product/999-Fine-Silver-Round-Wire-18-Ga-Dead-Soft/105318

I'm thinking about getting a length of 8 gauge to use as pre - main jumpers, and then saw the 18 gauge is like $3.00 a foot for .999 solid silver wire.  This might provide the opportunity to test cu vs ag at a reasonable cost as a signal wire.

williewonka
3,075 posts
 
Being .999 grade of silver I would think this would not perform as well as the UP-OCC copper, which is 6-nines (6N) purity.

I had previously used Mundorf solid silver with 1% gold for signal wires, but I found the 6N UP-OCC copper superior for dynamics and details.

The 6N solid UP-OCC copper wire from parts connexion is exceptional
The 5N solid silver UP-OCC Silver is a step up from the copper.

But my personal preference is still the copper

About the only way to determine its effectiveness is to try it and compare it to a known wire.

You might just prefer the sound of this silver wire :-)

Hope that helps


tennesseejed
4 posts
 
It does help, thank you for your input and advice.

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