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
@mawe - the price you show is correct.

My sincere apologies to everyone

I clicked on the wrong link by mistake

Taking exchange rate into account the UK price translates to $28.28 / meter, which does in fact make Sonic Craft the cheaper of the two.

Thanks for picking that up

Regards - Steve

NEOTECH Wire Update

A fellow DIYer has just made me aware of this company
http://www.acoustic-dimension.com/

NOTE: the pricing on this site is Euro's - but I have convert to UK pounds below to keep comparisons simple

They have the 12 gauge Neotech Ultra Pure 7N Onho Continuous Cast (UP-OCC). wire - but with PVC insulation priced at  £17.34 / meter including VAT.
i.e. More affordable than the Teflon version.

However the dielectric constant of PVC is 4.0 (as opposed to Teflon's 2.1)

But If you are planning on using the cotton or silk sleeve in place of the the insulation it would be a significantly cheaper option.

The DIYer also raised concerns about using cotton sleeve, since he is in Europe where the voltage is 230v.

I recommended that he use this slightly larger Teflon tube.
https://www.takefiveaudio.com/products/473-ptfe-10-tubing/

 The tube would have air between a large portion of the surface of the wire wire and the side of the Teflon tube, unlike a molded insulation.

The combined Dielectric constant (i.e. air + teflon) would probably be in the range of 1.5-1.6, which is much better than a molded Teflon insulation and only marginally worse than cotton or silk.

Since I have not used this wire I cannot confirm that the PVC wire is (performance wise) identical to the Teflon version, but it is UP-OCC.

Regards - Steve
 
 

Me again :-)

I’ve just tried a couple of things
  1. a 14 gauge Silver Plated Mil-spec wire as the neutral on an interconnect and the results were very similar to the double 16 gauge. But I had to use a 1/8" rod, which provided only just enough space to get the 2 x 18 gauge VH audio wires to pass through the coil
  2. I tried the Classic Harmony RCA on my best cable. While this is the entry level RCA plug from KLE Innovations, its performance was quite surprising, i.e. compared to the Absolute Harmony that it replaced.
Based on how the performance of the Classic Harmony compared to the Absolute harmony, I believe it is probably as good, if not slightly better than the Silver Harmony.

It left me very confused ..
- why would KLE Innovations introduce a product that performs this good, since it appears to compete with the Copper and Silver Harmony RCA’s

Compared to the Absolute Harmony it lacked just a little in the following areas...
  1. Dynamics - not quite as crisp
  2. Image size was a tad smaller and lacked a little precision i.e. not as focused
  3. Clarity & details were a little less accurate

It might be a good, affordable solution for Digital SPDIF cables ? Unfortunately, all of my streaming is accomplished view Ethernet, so I cannot verify that

It is definitely targeted to a more budget conscious buyer - BUT, it definitely will not disappoint. It’s a very good RCA plug.

Regards - Steve
Jeff at Sonic Craft told me this a year ago.  He only stocks the Classic and Absolute stating the others are a waste of time to carry. I trust his ears as he knows what he is talking about. 
" ... The DIYer also raised concerns about using cotton sleeve, since he is in Europe where the voltage is 230v. ,,,"

Steve - I lifted this from one of your previous posts.

I realize there is a sort of cage around it, but I was wondering about the safety of the cotton with 120V.