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
In all fairness, I would install better XLR connectors to conduct the test. Furutech make excellent XLR connectors at the same price point than KLE. I would also give them the mandatory 150 hours soaked time before reviewing their performance. I have just upgrade my Helix speaker and 1 RCA cables and can testify that some funky things are happening between the 25-40 hours mark.
Norco74 |
I am looking for a good source for the Neotech cable to build these cables (PC, IC, and speaker). The first question I have is do I want the stranded wire or the solid wire - as I think I see both in UP-OCC from Neotech? And I see options from SonicCraft at the moment - any other good options? Thanks! |
@dbass - here’s what I am using at present
I buy my UP-OCC 6N solid bare wire from parts connexion because I only use the Air adaption for all my Helix cables, which requires bare wire inside a teflon tube - it saves me having to strip the Teflon insulation off of the Neotech and I think it provided a little better dynamic performance https://www.partsconnexion.com/occ6n-copper-hook-up-wire.html They also have Neotech wire and many other brands But shop around - there are deals to be had - just make sure you are comparing apples to apples The silver plated Mil-spec I order from Take Five Audio - again there are alternative from other vendors, so shop around Deep Cryo Treated Cable And Wire - (takefiveaudio.com) Others on this thread prefer the Duelund with Cotton/Oil insulation for the signal wire on Interconnects and Speaker cables, but I prefer the faster dynamics of the UP-OCC copper on my system But realistically - all of the wires I mentioned above are excellent performers when used for Helix cables - it becomes a matter of "personal preference" and how well a particular component works with the selected wire(s). Hope that helps - Steve |
Steve, just a comment on your proposal for power cords:
According safety regulations in Europe you need to have the ground wire minimum the same size as the “life” and “neutral “ conductors. I’m not sure how this is in US, but would guess it is the same as well. |
