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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
3,082 posts
 
  • OK, so let's take a look at the history of the Helix

  1. I first started the Helix design with a single Live or Signal wire and that had a thicker gauge neutral - approximately twice the gauge
  2. The thicker gauge neutral provided significant sonic benefits
  3. The power cables having a thicker gauge neutral looked strange, so I used two 12 gangue neutrals ONLY to have a thicker neutral - nothing to do with the double shotgun approach
  4. Then the double shotgun approach was introduced for the interconnect signal and neutral wires, but I found that one soruce sounded better with a double signal wire and a single neutral wire
  5. The double live was then introduced into the Power cables, which already had a double neutral anyway 
  6. The speaker cables adopted the double signal wire, but kept the 10 gauge neutral, however some people have adopted a 2 x 12 gauge neutral
  7. The "Air" was the latest revamp of the entire lineup
  8. Then following on from Wig's success with the Solid Neotech UP-OCC copper for the neutral on his power cables I then tried a single wire Solid UP-OCC Neotech on the Interconnect neutral and it too proved very good
  9. I then decided to try a single wire neutral  on my PC's using the stranded Neotech UP-OCC wire to see if it would provide improved sound just as the Solid Neotech wire had. 
  10. I chose stranded wire because the solid takes a lot of effort when stretching  the coils along the Live Conductor and I wanted to see if the stranded was easier - it was

So I posted my findings and @wig confirmed my observations were very similar to his single Neotech UP-OCC solid copper neutral.

Why did I choose not try a double helix neutral? Simply because Wig had used a single wire on his PC version and I wanted to see how the two wires compared.

So I hope that has cleared up why I chose to go with a single wire

So here I am with a mix of cables 

My interconnects
  • use a single 16 gauge solid UP-OCC Teflon Helix neutral 
  • with a bare 2 x 18 gauge solid UP-OCC  in teflon tube signal wire
MY speaker cables 
  • use a single 10 gauge mil-spec Helix neutral wire
  • with a bare 2 x 16 gauge UP-OCC copper in a teflon tube signal wire
My heavy duty power cables
  • use a single Helix 12 gauge stranded UP-OCC Teflon neutral
  • with a bare 2 x 14 gauge solid UP-OCC in teflon tube Live wire
My Source power cables
  • use a 2 x12 gauge stranded Mil-Spec neutral
  • with a bare 2 x 16 gauge solid UP-OCC in teflon tube Live wire
The sound my system now produces is stunning - better than any system I have auditioned

What has surprised me about the latest adaptions on the helix geometry is just how good the sound now is and I find it hard to believe that adding a second UP-OCC neutral to my Interconnects or my power cables will improve the sonic performance in a significant way - so I do not plan on changing my cables in the near future - I want to enjoy listening to some music - instead of listening for improvements.

But by all means, somebody try the dual UP-OCC neutral on the Interconnects and the dual stranded UP-OCC copper on the power cables and see if they sound significantly better then a single UP-OCC neutral.

Hope that answers the many questions raised in the last few posts

Regards - Steve


yesiamjohn
14 posts
 
Come on lets not spread false info. SPDIF, USB, etc. all need to be impedance matched. This would be a bad idea for those types of cables. Maybe it will do no damage to the power delivery lines of USB. The added inductance of the air coil may even help.   I just realized you made a spark plug wire.
williewonka
3,082 posts
 
@ yesiamjohn - regarding your statement...
Come on lets not spread false info. SPDIF, USB, etc. all need to be impedance matched. This would be a bad idea for those types of cables.
Then - if you possess the knowledge to make such a statement please explain why many people who have actually tried the helix cables, prefer them to some very expensive impedance matched cables from some of the top brands.

They actually trust their ears and not what others "believe to be so"

It would appear that you have NOT tried the helix cables, so I suspect your thoughts are based on conjecture and "old school" thinking and not on actual trial and observations

I have received very negative comments from many others in the past, but the FACT remains, the Helix cables are outperforming some TOTL cables from established brands like Nordoist and Inakustik, to name but a few

You are of course free to believe whatever you want, but it is you that will be missing out on some very fine cables

Also, as you may have read, this thread is for the benefit of others that are interested in the continued development of the Helix design.

Regards - Steve


maxima95
300 posts
 
yesiamjohn 's posts here and elsewhere indicate that he is thread polluter and best ignored. 
facten
2,890 posts
 
Steve, ignore the uninformed comments. I have grannyring's version of the Helix design - 2 sets of RCA cables , and both digital spdif and usb cables, and they offer great musicality. 
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