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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


128x128wig
williewonka
3,075 posts
 
@abolive - re:...
Do you think the Helix is interesting for RCA/XLR cables ?
 Not quite sure what you really mean by this question and I interpret it as one of the following

  1. Would benefit the sound compared to cables you currently have? - I would have to say they yes, definitely
  2. Or which would be the better approach for the Helix cables, RCA or XLR? - Either format will perform very well
If you could please restate your question it would help avoid any ambiguity - thanks :-)

RE:  If I like the results, I could rewire my speakers eventually. They have 2 crossovers (bi wirable), what gauges do you think would be suitable for woofer and highs?
I think using the Helix inside a speaker would be an unnecessary complexity. Because of the space you have inside the enclosure you can afford to keep the +ve and -ve wires separated, so no need for the helix geometry.

The issue I faced when rewiring the crossover was getting the gauge I had selected attached to the circuit board. The wire should ideally be very flexible to prevent lifting the copper trace off of the circuit board

That being the case I would recommend the Neotech stranded wires. They use UP-OCC copper and are pretty flexible.

Hope that helps - Steve

Post removed 
williewonka
3,075 posts
 
A HELIX SPEAKER CABLE QUESTION - Do I have to use the Beads?

I’ve been asked this question a few times and always respond that the beads provide better sound quality.

But that has always been for cables that use a single wire for the signal conductor.

Things have now changed and the" Double Shotgun" approach is taking off in combination with the (Air) approach of using bare wire inside a Teflon tube
- so if you are using dual conductors in Teflon tubes for the signal wire I now see no reason to use the beads any longer - why?

Well this week I finished a couple of power cables that use dual wires for the Live conductors. These cables were for the more power hungry components in my system, so I used 2 x 14 gauge bare wire, each wire inside it’s own Teflon tube and then twisted together - and the results were excellent

So I got to thinking about power cables and the fact they probably have the strongest EMI influences to contend with of all the cables, i.e. carrying the highest voltage/current of all the cables.

I realized that if a twisted wire pair were used for a speaker cables then it was no longer necessary to employ beads for spacing because
  • the wires inside the Teflon tube would gravitate to the center of the twisted wire pair, leaving more space between the outside of the twisted wire conductor and the neutral coil
  • also, as the the wires are twisted, each wire "take turns" at being the closest to the Helix coil, therefore disrupting the EMI effect
My next thought - can the diameter of the Helix Coil of the speaker cables be reduced?
  • very likely, because the 5/16" rod to form the neutral coil of the mains cables, work so well with dual conductors, it is more than likely a 5/16" rod would be adequate for speaker cables also, because they convey lower powered signals.
To provide a little more separation, you could also use a cotton sleeve over the twisted pair...

Please Note: I have not tried this to date, so I cannot confirm this "by observation" as yet, but the evidence, as it relates to power cables, is very compelling and I feel extremely confident that this approach will make fabricating the Helix speaker cables much simpler going forward, without compromising sound quality.

For the Live conductors I recommend either 2 x 16 or 2 x 14 gauge
- I am currently using 2 x 16 gauge wire inside a single Teflon tube and the result is stunning with a significant improvement in ultra low frequency depth.

Regards - Steve
williewonka
3,075 posts
 
POWER CABLE update.

In the past couple of weeks I have revised the design of my power cables.
I now use two slightly different variants:
  1. For SOURCE components - I use 2 x 16 gauge bare UP-OCC copper twisted together (1 complete twist every inch) inside a single Teflon Tube, with a cotton sleeve over the tube
  2. For components that use more power e.g. amplifiers, extension cables and power conditioning/distribution devices - I use 2 x 14 gauge bare UP-OCC copper wire, each wire inside it’s own Teflon tube and then twisted together (one complete twist every 6")
The other wires remain unchanged
  • Neutral - 2 x 12 gauge Stranded Silver plated Mil-Spec with Teflon insulation
  • Ground - 1 x 12 gauge copper with Teflon insulation from Home Depot

Why two different approaches? - $cost - I like to keep costs down wherever possible
  1. the 2 x 16 gauge wires fit nicely inside the PTFE 10 Tube I had available
  2. whereas the 2 x 14 gauge, being a larger diameter wire, required a separate tube for each wire
  3. you could adopt approach #2 for all cables, but I do not think the difference would be significant
Both of these cables perform noticeably better than the previous version that used a single 12 gauge solid bare UP-OCC conductor inside a Teflon tube

Once again the Schroeder "Double Shotgun" approach first introduced here by @grannyring, continues to provide significant improvement to the performance of all Helix Cables - many thanks.

Regards - Steve
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lak
4,623 posts
 
Thanks for the update Steve :-)
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