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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
wig's avatar
wig OP
1,270 posts
 

DIY Helix Shoot-Out/OCC Silver Vs OCC Copper Power Cord

Finally had the opportunity to conduct side-by-side evaluation on two power cords that has added immensely to my listening sessions. Both cables are stellar in their performance and I thought there would be razor thin differences but boy was I wrong, the OCC Solid Silver carves out the soundscape with precision, allowing the listener to effortlessly follow the musicians that are developing within and beyond the boundaries of your Loudspeakers. The OCC Silver just excels in ambient retrieval, subtle nuances, decay, air… The OCC Solid Copper is still spectacular and has the same attributes but lacks the overall resolution of the Silver.

DIY Helix Shoot-Out/Mundorf Silver/Gold Vs 2X OCC Copper Interconnect


I thought the differences between these two conductors would be day and night and was quite surprised on what I heard. I will say that the Mundorf/Gold combination is more resolving and if your components are not up to the task, you may not even hear the differences… The Mundorf was again slightly more transparent with more bite and the sound stage had more depth. It will really come down to personal preferences based upon the equipment’s ability to extract the very best out of these cables. Two OCC Solid Copper runs on the signal conductor is no slouch and does everything the Mundorf does with just a tad less resolution.


I could definitely live with 2 runs of OCC Solid Copper on the signal conductor of my interconnects but if your source components are in the low wattage range, I would highly recommend going with the OCC Solid Silver conductor/s on your power cords; it’s just marvelous and easily discernable…


Wig


grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,500 posts
 
Great feedback Wig. I will be trying running a second 16 gauge Helix negative wire along with the 2 VH Audio solid core copper conductors on positive. So two positive and negative conductors for a double IC. My plan is to try and coil both 16 gauge Helix conductors simultaneously with the rod and drill method.
wig's avatar
wig OP
1,270 posts
 
@ grannyring
Thanks and looking forward to your observations with the Schroeder Method.

I’m also going to add another silver conductor to one of my IC to determine if the additional conductor is discernable and from my previous SM cables, the differences can be dramatic...

Wig 👍
lak's avatar
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lak
4,642 posts
 
Wig, Thanks for the time and effort involved, great job.
williewonka
3,075 posts
 
@wig , @grannyring  @dbass - I've just been listening to a pair of 1 meter IC's that now has a single strand of 18 gauge VH Audio Solid Copper, in place of the single strand of 1mm dia (17-18 gauge) Mundorf Solid Silver/gold wire. FYI:  I did not use the cotton sleeve as with the Mundorf wire, mainly because the VH audio wire has insulation.

RE: IC's, I can confirm Wig's findings almost to the letter, the only difference being, I found the Mundorf wire to be a smidgeon fuller sounding and a tad warmer, but we are talking about a difference so small the I had to listen intently on my system at least, but again, there may be more of a difference on higher resolving systems. Every other metric we tend to use to assess sonic performance was identical to my ears at least.

RE: Power cables: - I have also now compared power cables and although I did not hear as much of a difference between the VH Audio Silver vs. VH Audio copper as Wig observed, I did believe that there would be a more discernible improvement when used on components capable of higher resolution.

RE: Schroeder method.  - I'll also wait for @grannyring 's observations. - It's an approach that does seem to provide improvements using conventional cable geometry.

To all - Your modifications and observations posted above are invaluable  in shaping the future versions of the Helix cables, since I am but one guy with one modest system, so when others are willing to try other wires and approaches on an array of systems/components I really do appreciate the time/effort/costs involved. 

MANY THANKS - Steve




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