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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
pindac's avatar
pindac
2,864 posts
 
The Link is to a Brand I have not discovered in past searches.
That is the benefit of doing a search, the Robots throw other unknown products into the line up.
This Brand also does Mini XLR but I could not make out the lead out pin materials.
The one in the Link is looking likely that it is a Gold Plated Copper, as the specification refers to plating materials and Metals, where Gold and Copper are listed.  
What is very evident is that these are very competitively priced.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001458223192.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.1000014.5.4b3070d7a2biQ1&...
wig's avatar
wig OP
1,270 posts
 
Guys,

Thanks for the mini xlr recommendations, currently using the Furutech and will look into the others mentioned.

Wig 👍
toolbox149
263 posts
 
Interconnects
I better get this question in before the thread goes completely dormant.
Steve, Grannyring, et all;
I’m kinda in the middle of my project utilizing bare wires in tubes. I’m re-doing my return wires because they were also in tubes and like Grannyring said, I think I lost some of my warmth.
My question involves the primary wires.  I have long been an enjoyer of the Schroeder Double Method of interconnect wiring.  I am currently changing the 3 long wires in my system, an 11 footer and two 8 footers. I started with OCC6N 18 gauge bare copper from Parts Connexion.  For the second wire in the Double Method I also tried using 20 gauge and 22 gauge.  Unfortunately, Parts Connexion doesn’t sell OCC wire in 22 gauge so I tried some 22 gauge OFC 4N copper for that.
I tried the 20 gauge running with the 18 gauge Double Method and also ran the 22 gauge with the 18.  The 18 plus the 20 sounded OK, but when I ran the with the 22 gauge I heard a nice warm bloom to the upper frequencies. Unfortunately, the 22 also added a little harshness back to the vocals which I find to be very annoying.  At this point I can’t tell if it’s the smaller size wire that introduces the harshness back, or if it’s because the wire is OFC 4N not OCC 6N.
Parts Connection doesn’t/won’t stock 22 gauge (I asked), so I might like to try 24 gauge OOC to see if that works.
My question involves multiple strands in one tube.  Steve, you recently went back to a single wire in a tube for 18 gauge interconnects rather than two wires.  Any sonic reason?  I might try two or three 24 gauge wires in a tube unless it’s generally thought that multiple wires would reduce SQ.
any thoughts?

Thanks,
Tim

pindac's avatar
pindac
2,864 posts
 
The idea of using differing purities of wire and wire production methods for the Signal Path is carried out by Audio Technica on their recent Rexat Cables.
Trying different configurations of Wires and Gauges as you are doing could prove to be the method to get a presentation throughout the frequencies that is to ones preference.  

I think this thread will always reignite, there is too much of good vibes contained within it to be overlooked.  
williewonka
3,075 posts
 
@toolbox149 - I tried the two wires in a single tube first because from what I had read there should have been little difference. But changing to having each wire in it’s own tube provided better details dynamics and clarity, so that is now my standard configuration.

For the neutral wires I still only use
  • a single strand of 16 gauge UP-OCC in Teflon for the neutral on IC’s
  • a single srtand of 10 gauge stranded silver plated milspec for speaker cables
  • a single strand of 12 gauge stranded UP-OCC in teflon for Power Cables

Since the neutral is so long (i.e. expensive) I prefer to save a little money vs, the slight improvement in performance that using a double neutral provides. I based this on my observation of the Interconnects. I am assuming (rightly or wrongly) that the speakers cables and power cables have a similar small ROI

But if you would like to achieve the best possible result I would recommend a double neutral also.

I have tried 4 wires for the live in a power cable and it provided no additional benefits over two wires, so I stay with two wires for all cables

OFC 4N is probably the reason for the harshness, because the OCC process provides a much smooth signal transfer, regardless of purity i.e. 4N vs 6N

Hope that helps



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