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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


wig
williewonka
3,131 posts
 
@lionel - if the amp has balanced speaker outputs then the Helix cables will not work well with it, but you will not damage the amp to my knowledge

Another word used for this "fully balanced" type of design is "Symmetrical"

One member has tried the Helix with this design and said they sounded awful. Once I found out the reason I added the warning to my web site.

A lot of commercial brands of cable will not sound their best with this type of amp design.

The best approach is to use two individual wires that are NOT joined in any way and keep them about 2" apart.

Silversmith Fedelium Speaker cables might be a very good match - a pair of 10ft cables is $1400, which in todays world is not too bad. A lot of people on this forum like them

Silversmith Audio

You could also try Van den Hul D352 wire and separate the conductors, or there are even better offerings from VanDen Hul.

NOTE: Speaker cables for this design should NOT be twisted together, as with XLR Interconnect cables, because the speakers lack the circuitry that eliminates noise.

A QUESTION FOR YOU: does the manual for the amp explain what type of speaker cable should/could be used?

I have an issue with companies that omit crucial information pertaining to their products that could result in damage - e.g. quite a few solid state high current designs DO NOT like speaker cables with very high capacitance, which can drive the amp to oscillate and damage the amp. NAIM has the same issue but makes their customer aware of it on their web site.

A TOTL offering from Cardas has very high capacitance, but Cardas are not to blame because those cables work perfectly well for Tube Amps

An acquaintance blew an Ayre and a Gryphon using Cardas cables - that's $20k total - all because the amp companies DID NOT make him aware of the issue .

OK - I'll get off my soap box now :-)

Regards - Steve





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lionel
3 posts
 
Hey Steve - I appreciate the honesty. Down the road I will build a PC & IC with your formula. Thanks for your sharing!

To answer your question, no, my amp doesn't have a manual.  It is a Mivera Purepower built from an IcePower module (the 1200as).  
williewonka
3,131 posts
 
@lionel  just found Ice Power Module details - in the literature that is available online- 
The speaker output of the 200AS1 is a balanced output with two active signal lines capable of driving complex speaker loads. As the speaker output is already in a balanced configuration, bridging of two channels is not possible.
So I can confirm the Helix Cables WILL NOT sound their best with this amp

Regards - Steve



maxima95
300 posts
 
Steve, 

Not meaning to split hairs, the ICE module referred to is the 1200AS  (or 1200AS2 if a stereo amp).  I'm sure they are configured the same way.

As far as you are aware, is this compatibility concern related to the speaker cable only?

Thanks 
williewonka
3,131 posts
 
@maxuima95 - YES - only for the speaker cable !

Here is my understanding (and I am paraphrasing heavily here)...
  • the "balanced" audio signal that comes through an XLR Interconnect (e.g. from a DAC) is "processed" by the receiving component (e.g. a pre-amp) such that any noise is removed, resulting in a single audio signal (not two)
  • If the pre-amp has XLR outputs the "clean" audio signal is again "processed" into two signals 180 degrees out of phase, but there needs to be a neutral to complete the circuit
  • Now in a Balanced "symmetrical" amp design, the signal comping into the XLR input is processed in the same manner as the pre-amp processed it’s XLR input
  • but in the output stage of the amp a principle similar to a balanced power supply is employed, in that two signals that are 180 degrees out of phase is used to drive the speaker - BUT there is NO neutral at the output
  • so if you were the speaker - the signal in one wire will effectively "pull" the voice coil and the signal in the other wire will effectively "push" the voice coil and vice versa as the signal moves from the +ve cycle to the -ve cycle.
  • So what happens if the HELIX SPEAKER CABLES are used to connect the speaker to this type of amp - the UP-OCC Signal wire has excellent transmission capability, but the neutral cable being 2.5 times longer and only silver plated copper, does not conduct it’s 180 degree out of phase signal quite as "accurately" as the signal wire does
  • This results in imperfect forces being applied to the voice coil and clarity, tone, imaging dynamics are impacted and the resulting sound is not as good as it could be
  • However - the amp WILL NOT suffer any damage as a result of the Helix cables being connected.
I hope that explains things :-)

Regards - Steve


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