Duelund DCA16GA

@mitch2 
Curious where you found the info on constructing a set of balanced cables using the Duelund cable? I am using the 16ga for speaker cables but not for interconnects as my system needs balanced interconnects. I am not that handy when it comes to soldering and have not tried to make interconnects. I tried a set in RCA and liked them but they don’t sound right with my current integrated, Ayre AX-7e. Any info is appreciated. Thanks!

Hi joey54,
I have been doing this for awhile so have read a lot of information and constructed a variety of cables, some that sound pretty good and others not so much. For information, you can search both this site and over at Audio Asylum in the Cable Asylum, particularly articles by Jon Risch (you can search by author over there). Goals for speaker and power cables are mostly low inductance and low resistance. Goals for ICs include low capacitance and EMI/RFI rejection while low resistance is not as important for ICs.

A posting by Jon Risch at AA gives this basic information for twisted pair XLR ICs;

For XLR to XLR, twisted pairs should be constructed like this:
pin 2 to pin 2, pin 3 to pin 3 for the twisted pair wires, THEN, the shield to pin 1 of the source component. This SHOULD work for true balanced gear, but some is not true balanced, and a ground reference connection must be made, in this case, wrap a 16 gauge tinned stranded hookup wire around the OUTSIDE of the shield braid, and connect to pin 1 at both ends. This will help keep any ground currents from interfering with the two differential pairs, and minimize cable capacitance.

BTW, as for all DIY twisted pairs, I recommend spacing the shield briad AWAY from the twisted pairs using a high quality insulation, and then oversized braid for a shield covering.

Better XLRs do help, but the industry standard Neutrik and Switchcraft are pretty decent, it is the other cheapo brands of XLR’s that you have to watch out for adversely afecting the sound.

So, the design I used consisted of a twisted pair, to reduce EMI/RFI, spacing material to keep the shield away from the conductors, a braid shield connected at the source end only to further reject EMI/RFI, a ground wire outside of the shield that is of a larger gauge than the signal wires, tech flex, heat shrink, and high quality connectors.

If you dig deeper into design options, you might find some believe there are benefits to spacing the signal cables away from each other a certain distance. Risch from AA did this by using cores of coaxial cables that are surrounded by foamed dielectric material, others do this by a variety of methods, including laying the wires flat with a consistent spacing between packing tape or sewed into material. Most manufactured ICs (if not coax) are a simple twisted pair, or multiple wires twisted around a core, because those designs are easier to mass-manufacture. Wires twisted around a core is the basis for DIY ICs you can read about at the VH Audio website. Consistency in spacing is important. Good luck whatever you choose to do.

@mitch2 
Thank you for the very informative post. It’s greatly appreciated.

Recently I put my Belden 8402 ICs back in my system from the preamp to the amplifiers (still using Duelund 20ga between DAC and preamp).
I was surprised that I did not seem to hear any of the drawbacks I previously heard with that wire. It retained the full, tonally rich sound that is consistent with all of the tinned, stranded wires I have tried, and it seemed to be suitably extended and did not lose control when played (plenty) loud.
I looked at the construction and believe there is really only one main potential flaw to the 8402 being the use of EPDM rubber insulation. The only reason I can think to use that material is for flexibility as a commercial microphone cable but maybe you guys have a better idea of their reason for that design choice.
I then looked at Belden's extensive catalog and ordered some 8422, which is mostly the same cable as 8402 but for two main differences, the conductors are 22 awg instead of the 20 awg in the 8402, and the insulation in the 8422 is polyethylene instead of rubber in the 8402. The strand size is the same and both are tinned. I will take the chance that there will be no detriment to the slightly smaller conductors for the hopefully positive trade-off going from rubber to polyethylene. The 22 awg may actually be a bit better extended without losing body and tonal density. The polyethylene should be a superior insulation with a much lower dielectric constant. I actually like polyethylene (preferably foamed) better than Teflon, which I find to impart a high frequency sheen that is a bit unnatural sounding to me. I have always believed there are advantages to using manufactured wire for interconnects because of the more consistent winding and spacing. Hopefully, I will receive the wire and be able to make a set or two this weekend.