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
@aniwolfe The design outline and construction of power cables we followed when purchasing parts, were those described in this thread: Neotech in either Air-configuration or with PVC (as we are running 230 V) for Live conductor, double helixes using mil spec for Neutral and a single helix using mil spec for Protective Earth. We prefer to make the all helixes in one go, ie. all three in this example, as that is far more easy than make one helix at a time and then join afterwards. Hence - the time is now, before we start making helixes, that a change in conductors must be made. From Steve’s latest reply the recommendation is a single helix for Neutral made of Neotech and then still use the mil spec for PE. The choice for mil spec on PE is my assumption as Steve has not given any direction regarding changes to this conductor. |
@jambaj0e Regarding... @williewonka I have seen USB, but what about micro USB and type C? Also, what about coaxial Bnc cables?A USB Micro cable would be very difficult to fabricate because of the thickness of the wires. But you could build a standard USB cables and use an adapter Attaching wires to BNC connectors would be difficult However - the IC's also make an excellent SPDIF cable just as they are Regards |
@provst - @aniwolfe 's suggestion could have some merit, as there may be some "screening benefits" from having a double PE, but I have never tried it and EMI and RFI is not an issue I have identified as being problematic in my home Or - you can simply leave the ground wire as a single conductor. I have tried using Mil-Spec for the PE, and it does not appear to affect sound quality. Regards |
@williewonka If there are benefits to be had using a double helix even with Neotech, then we must consider going with that option. So far comments from @grannyring and others have been favourable towards the double shotgun principle, which is why I asked questions regarding the return to single helix in the first place, when changing to Neotech. It made us wonder, if the double helix had been skipped or deemed unnecessary when using Neotech. I also note that you, Steve, recommends the stranded Neotech for making helix. I noted there were some brief comments regarding the solid core wire being too stiff making the cables more or less unsuitable for using between units. We made a trial on one meter of 12 GA solid core, where one was controlling the drill and the other was guiding the wire onto the rod. It was fairly easy to work with the 12 GA in that way, so if the solid core wire is better but impractical in use, then we are only left with stranded Neotech wire as an option for helixes. Any comments regarding solid core versus stranded for helixes will be highly appreciated. - Steen |
