Hello,
I have followed this thread and have been using VH Audio wire since 15+ years, DIY ICs, CheLa speaker cables and some PCs.
Recently I tried the Helix design for a PC, first with some cheap “normal” pvc insulated 2.5sqmm copper wire to test it.
I finally did the PC for my AlloUSBridge Signature with the following parts:
Hot= 2x 1.2mm dia. bare silver claded solid copper in a PTFE tube sleeve with inner dia of 2.0mm, light twisted and than sleeved into a PTFE tube with 6mm inner dia.
Neutral= 2 runs of the same wire in the same PTFE sleeve coiled with a Ground wire as per Helix design recommendation. PC connectors are SonarQuest pure silver.
This design gives as low as possible dielectric as the surface of the wire is barely touching the insulation and main insulation is air.
This is a very cost effective approach with a little more work to slide the bare wire into the PTFE sleeves, but it sounds incredibly open, stress free and fast.
My experiences with PTFE insulated OCC copper compared to the VH Audio Silver in cotton had always been, that the Neotech OCC wire sounded not as open as the cotton insulated wire. And the Airlock insulation is not far off either.
However, for IC my findings always been, that max wire gauge should be 24AWG. If one wants, one can double it, so 2x 24 AWG for hot and ground. Recently testet a Single 22 AWG wire and was not impressed with the results. Bass and mid/highs had been good, but somehow soundstage became smaller.
I wonder, why you all use 18AWG for the hot signal in ICs? Has anybody tried instead of 2x 18 AWG a smaller 2x 24 AWG Helix IC?
Best..
I have followed this thread and have been using VH Audio wire since 15+ years, DIY ICs, CheLa speaker cables and some PCs.
Recently I tried the Helix design for a PC, first with some cheap “normal” pvc insulated 2.5sqmm copper wire to test it.
I finally did the PC for my AlloUSBridge Signature with the following parts:
Hot= 2x 1.2mm dia. bare silver claded solid copper in a PTFE tube sleeve with inner dia of 2.0mm, light twisted and than sleeved into a PTFE tube with 6mm inner dia.
Neutral= 2 runs of the same wire in the same PTFE sleeve coiled with a Ground wire as per Helix design recommendation. PC connectors are SonarQuest pure silver.
This design gives as low as possible dielectric as the surface of the wire is barely touching the insulation and main insulation is air.
This is a very cost effective approach with a little more work to slide the bare wire into the PTFE sleeves, but it sounds incredibly open, stress free and fast.
My experiences with PTFE insulated OCC copper compared to the VH Audio Silver in cotton had always been, that the Neotech OCC wire sounded not as open as the cotton insulated wire. And the Airlock insulation is not far off either.
However, for IC my findings always been, that max wire gauge should be 24AWG. If one wants, one can double it, so 2x 24 AWG for hot and ground. Recently testet a Single 22 AWG wire and was not impressed with the results. Bass and mid/highs had been good, but somehow soundstage became smaller.
I wonder, why you all use 18AWG for the hot signal in ICs? Has anybody tried instead of 2x 18 AWG a smaller 2x 24 AWG Helix IC?
Best..