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
Well said Steve. Folks like you, me, and others with a plethora of first hand experience know what is true because we took the time and conducted the listening and other tests. We build, tweak, adjust, re-build, make more adjustments, listen and over time we learn. Just nuts how Agon has this growing crowd of “cant be/wont matter” folks who just hang here to say ”no/can’t be”. Strange and unfortunate turn for the worse on this site.

I sure miss the good old days when we could all learn from each other’s experiences and respect was given. Not so anymore. We have a new crowd that has not done the work or given the effort on a certain matter, but they still desire to say “no way” based on something they read or learned in a classroom. Nothing beats trying for yourself and learning through actual experience. 
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Well, @grannyring - now you’ve gone an done it - now I have to upgrade my IC’s - yet again :-)

For once - Rain started play - I decided to put a rainy day to good use and upgrade a set of interconnects with a second identical wire for the signal conductor - basically, half the approach grannyring has tried - he also doubled up on the neutral wires.

I have been auditioning a Helix IC with the 18 gauge Aolid Copper wire with AirLok from VH Audio. It competed favourably with the Solid Silver Mundorf wire at about 1/5th the cost. So today, I upgraded these IC’s with a second identical 18 gauge signal wire

The results were impressive to say the least and the cables are not even burned in at all yet.

Improvements...
- more precise artist placement within the image
- improved articulation of very small instrument details e.g. plucking guitar strings - they now "pop"
- improved clarity across the board
- overall sound is more lively and  less compressed

So what’s in the cable I am listening too?
- a Helix interconnect with ONE 16 gauge neutral wire (as per the web site)
- TWO 18 gauge VH Audio Solid Copper + AirLok insulation signal wires (NEW)
- KLE Innovations Absolute Harmony RCA plugs (as per the web site)

So far this cable is performing better than my IC’s that have a Solid Silver Mundorf wire + Cotton sleeve + Absolute Harmony RCA’s

For me, If I can hear improvements easily, then an up[grade like this is worth it - and this was noticeable from the get go. I didn’t have to play multiple tracks to discern a minute change - it was clearly audible. What Grannyring refers to as "a wall of sound" and I can see why

On the plus side, the solid copper wire is much more affordable than the silver.

But, will a dual Solid Silver wire with AirLok insulation sound even better?

I’ll keep you posted :-)

BTW - "Thanks Gran" :-)

Regards - Steve



I have just heard back from a person that implemented the Helix Speaker cables. He was very happy with them until he changed the amp to  a Vitus Audio SIA 025. 

The Vitus employs a "symmetrical" design approach (think 100% Balanced) from the inputs to the speaker terminals.  This means that both +ve and -ve terminals both carry "the signal" - a bit like a balanced power supply. It has no real neutral.

The manufacturer clearly warns users to never ground the black speaker outputs.

This resulted in a terrible sound when the Helix cables were used, because of the coiled neutral

I would have to believe that many other geometries are not suited to this amp, in particular some or the TOTL Cardas cables and perhaps Kimber Kable, because their capacitance is significantly hier than other speaker cables and this amp is a high current solid state design

This is the first time I have had anyone report problems with the Helix Speaker Cables.

So they are not for every system

Regards - Steve