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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
 
@svampebob - here’s a summary of MY CURRENT cables with some alternates choices for neutral wires

Interconnect Cables:
  • signal wires: 2 x 18 gauge bare UP-OCC copper, each wire inside it’s own Teflon tube
  • Neutral - 1 x 16 gauge UP-OCC solid copper with Teflon insulation
  • Alternate Neutral - you could double up on the neutral, but I opt for a single wire to save costs and it’s easier to build
Speaker Cables:
  • signal wires: 2 x 16 or 2 x 14 gauge bare UP-OCC copper, each wire inside it’s own Teflon tube - I have tried both and the 14 gauge did perform a just little better.
  • But it might be speaker dependent - perhaps a smaller speaker would not require a 14 gauge wire
  • Neutral - 1 x 10 gauge stranded mil spec with Teflon insulation
  • Alternate Neurtal - you could use 1 x 12 or 2 x 12 gauge Neotech stranded UP-OCC copper with Teflon insulation, but again I would opt for a single neutral to keep costs down
  • I no longer use the wooden beads as spacers
High Power cables for power amp or power conditioner:
  • signal wires: 2 x 14 gauge bare UP-OCC copper, each wire inside it’s own Teflon tube
  • Neutral - 1 x 12 gauge Neotech UP-OCC stranded copper with Teflon insulation
  • Alternate Neutral - 2 x 12 gauge Neotech UP-OCC stranded copper with Teflon insulation
Source Component Power Cables
  • LIVE wires: 2 x 18 or 2 x 16 gauge bare UP-OCC copper, each wire inside it’s own Teflon tube
  • Neutral - 1 x 14 gauge Neotech UP-OCC stranded copper with Teflon insulation
  • Alternate Neutral - 2 x 14 gauge Neotech UP-OCC stranded copper with Teflon insulation
I opt NOT to use the dual neutral wires in any of my cables because I consider the amount of improvements observed were not worth the additional expense.
  • But then, I have spent a lot of money during the development of these cables and so I prefer to save money where I can.
  • HOWEVER: if you are after the absolute best performance then using a dual neutral will provide just that

RE: Teflon Tube: Teflon Tube (PTFE 10 Tubing .106"ID .130"OD Approx. 10 awg ) from Take Five Audio

WRT using solid wire inside a Teflon tube for the neutral...
  • I have never tried bare wire inside Teflon tube for the NEUTRAL wire mainly because it could present challenges when winding the coil

WRT:
Will the neutral corrode in the teflon tube?
It will discolor a very small amount and then it will stop changing, but this is NOT enough to impact performance,
  • i.e. provided you use a small piece of heat shrink at each end to "seal" the tube.
  • even without the heat shrink at each end of the tube it would take many many years to reach a point that MIGHT impact sound quality

Hope that answers your questions

Regards - Steve



svampebob
11 posts
 
Thanks very much Steve! I wonder what you use for spacing now then? Maybe the tubes fill the sleve somewhat out
sns
4,025 posts
 
I'm not up on latest recipes, but I discovered Steve's original Helix page some time ago. I've auditioned  many cables over the years using lending library at Cable Company, $1k to $3-4k in all categories. The Helix has been my go to pc for some time, transparency second to none. My favored recipe is double runs of Take Five cryo'd 14awg for neutral, three runs of VH Audio Airlock 18awg for live, solid core copper 10 or 12awg ground. Only other recipe tried was Duelund DCA for live. I use cryo'd rhodium ac connectors that look exactly like the Partsconnexion Connex.

Need to try helix IC soon.
svampebob
11 posts
 
Do we know for sure, that the quality of the neutral matters as long as its resistance is lower than the signal wire? In my simple mind it would make sense that the most resistive wire (signal) is the one that colors/determines the sound, and if that one is excellent (up-occ), the sound will be the same.
williewonka
3,131 posts
 
@svampebob - I don't bother with spacers anymore because I figure the Teflon tubes plus the gentle twist I use in the two signal wires is as effective as the beads on the signal wire version.

I still use a 1/2" rod to wind the neutral wire on the speaker cables  so the signal wires "take turns" at being in the center of the Helix coil, and don't forget the helix crosses the signal wires at very close to 90 degrees, so induction would be minimal.

It also make fabrication so much easier :-)

@sns - glad to hear you like the Helix PC's - I think you'll like the IC's as well  :-)

Regards - Steve


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