Duelund conversion to DIY Helix Geometry Cabling

@maxima95 - until recently, I too was concerned about this aspect.

Here is my thought process
We hear a lot from cable manufacturers about the safety aspect of cables, but home audio cables are "normally" fairly stationary.

But if you are selling a cable you cannot be certain of the use it will be put too, so you design in LOTS of additional "protection"
e.g. Furutech cable is perhaps one of the safest cables around - it can withstand many harsh chemicals - just the thing you need for home audio :-)

DH Labs realized this when they designed a line of bulk cable for home audio use - it used great copper like Furutech, but it was not shielded and the outer sleeve was not chemical resistant

There are people out there that has a maze of cables around their system and are not too careful in how they handle them. The result is cable can get worn and break

WRT MY helix cables
- I only touch/remove any of my cables a few times a year
- they are not stepped on or abused
- I always hold the plug when removing them - not the cable
- they do not have liquids poured on them
- they are not subject to extreme temperatures

So I have become more comfortable with using Cotton, especially on the live wire, because it is inside a "cage".
- The wires around it are protected with Teflon.
- The live wire cannot be touched by people under "normal" operation.
- The only "threat" with cotton is if someone were to spill water on them and I am careful not to have water around my entire system.

Is there a possibility that the wire will heat up and set fire to the cotton insulation ?
- well that should not happen under normal operating conditions because the solid core wire I use is capable of handling up to 34 amps
- that’s 19 amps over the "standard" 15 amp breaker trip current.
- So the breaker should trip long before the wire gets hot enough to ignite the cotton.

So fast forward to my later post which mentions using Teflon tube - the main reason for this was to provide an alternative to cotton for people that might be concerned about using cotton.

WRT the difference between the Dielectric Constant values of the two sleeves
- I believe the difference in sound quality between the two would be distinguishable if you listened intently.
- So either is a good choice

I leave it up to the individual to use whichever insulation method suits their own needs in order to achieve the performance they feel is safe.

@wig has reported excellent results using the 12 gauge solid core without removing the Teflon insulation, so that is a third very safe option.

So to answer your question
- It is probably more prudent to adopt the insulation that you are comfortable with
- perhaps leave the Teflon Insulation in place
- it will not keep you awake at night
- the sound quality will still be excellent

The choice is yours...
- Cotton
- Teflon tube
- or - Leave the Teflon insulation in place

We all have limits to the things we are willing to try in this crazy hobby

BTW - I do understand you concerns - I check my cables frequently during the burn-in process for changes in temperature.. They have always remained at room temperature.

I hope that helps

Regards - Steve

Thank you for the explanation and alternatives Steve.

@grannyring - I think Jeff has it right.

Initially, I was asked to review each of the plugs as they were released. But after testing each of the plugs I always thought the Copper Harmony and the Pure harmony were not really needed. Then they came out with the Classic and I was quite puzzled..

The Classic Harmony I have burning in at this moment played some unusual tricks in the first 30 hours (i.e. compared to the rest of the lineup).

Initially they sounded very nice. Then they became quite "in your face" and a bit heavy in the bottom end between 10-20 hours, but they are now settling down to that nice neutral performance that I had been expecting from a Harmony RCA

I’ll give them a week to burn in and report back. But right now, they seem to be a little less detailed and not as focused as the Absolute Harmony.

For other readers I would like to clarify that the differences between each of the harmony plug models is "marginal’ in the context of general listening. But in a controlled audition with select tracks, the improvements in "fine details" between each model are quite discernible.

But compared to the competition, they are an extremely good RCA plug.

Regards - Steve

UPDATE- RE: the Classic RCA.

After about 100 hours there seemed to be no more improvements, but then the wires had been used for some weeks, so it was just the RCA’s and solder that needed burn-in

While this is a very capable RCA plug i.e. compared to the competition from other brands, it does not provide the same level of performance as the Pure harmony and Absolute harmony models.

Based on my previous auditions of the Silver harmony and Copper Harmony - I believe the performance to be between the Copper Harmony and the Silver harmony i.e. ON MY CABLES...
- bass was as deep, but a little less detailed & textured
- the top end was a little less crisp and lacked some fine details
- image was not quite as large and lost a little of the focus
- dynamics were a little slower - they lacked that crispness of the Absolute Harmony
- overall clarity was very good
- Venue acoustics, while present, lost a little of their sparkle
- there was no change in tonal quality - very neutral

I would definitely use the Classic RCA on my A/V system for either Analogue or Digital IC’s, or on a good second/office system.

If you have not tried the Harmony range, the Classic Harmony RCA will give you a very good indication of the sound you can achieve with the other RCA’s in the Harmony lineup

Hope you find this useful - Steve

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I have been building ICs, USB and digital cables with the VH Audio 18 gauge solid core SILVER Airlock wire in place of copper and the difference is not small. In my system, and others of high quality, the sonic gains are substantial.

The realism and micro detail retrieval is substantially improved. My system is playing music with a new level of realism that I have never heard before. All of the full bodied bloom of copper is still there, but even more refined and resolving. I have not liked one single brand or type of silver conductor in my builds until I tried this VH Audio conductor. All the silver wire I had tried in the past just sounded too thin or lean. NOT the case with the 18 gauge VH Audio Silver solid core.

My system’s mids and highs are as smooth as butter. I cannot overstate how amazing the Double Helix builds are using VH Audio silver. Yes, I am talking about the double. I find this conductor better sonically
than the Mundorf silver/gold. The Mundorf lacks the bottom end heft and weight while sounding not as smooth and extended on top. The realism of the VH silver is also better.

Now, the cost of this silver conductor has almost doubled in price over the last month as silver is up. ($39 foot) So these are expensive builds, but the cables are outperforming $6000-$8000 branded cables in systems.

I have not heard any cable, at any price, sound this wonderful. I am sharing this for those looking for the best possible cabling for their high end system. I have only built ICs, digital cables and USB cables thus far. Speaker cables would be far too expensive for me with this wire. The silver wire was only used on the USB data wires and the positive runs in digital and IC cables. The 16 gauge, silver plated, stranded copper wire from Take Five Audio was used for the USB power ground and negative runs on the digital and IC cables.

Use WBT 4% silver solder and be sure to cover the twisted pair of 18 gauge VH silver used on the positive runs of the ICs and digital cables with two layers of unbleached pure cotton tubing to damp unwanted vibrations. I use 4-5mm cotton tubing and then a second 7mm covering. I also use KLE Absolute Harmony plugs for my RCA builds. On the double helix I use a 4 to 1 length ratio of TFA wire to VH Audio wire. For example, if building a 3 foot set of Double Helix ICs, then you would need two 12 foot lengths of the TFA wire in addition to the two 4 foot lengths of the VH Audio wire.