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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
tecknik
482 posts
 
I’ve been playing around with the helix design on my dc cables with some Input from granny and am very pleased with the results using leftover mundorf 18g silver gold and plain 16 g copper for the neutral rather then military spec silver plated copper cause that’s all I had laying around for now. 
My question is from those who have tried it what’s the sonic difference between mil spec silver plated and plain copper on neutral .
williewonka
3,072 posts
 
@tecknik - re:...
what’s the sonic difference between mil spec silver plated and plain copper on neutral
I’ve tried a couple of different wires for the neutral and the only wire that made a SIGNIFICANT improvement on the Saver plated Mil-Spec for the neutral is the UP-OCC copper with Teflon insulation
  • clarity improved resulting in more details
  • imaging got larger
  • dynamics got faster.
  • bass became more "textured"
I am assuming by "Plain copper" you are referring to something like the quality of copper used in household wiring or even OFC copper?
  • using plain copper  in place of the silver plated Mil-Spec would impact on those areas of improvement
I now use UP-OCC copper on
  • interconnects - 1 x 16 gauge solid UP-OCC with Teflon insulation (you can also try 2 x 16 gauge)
  • power cables - 1 x 12 gauge stranded UP-OCC copper with Teflon insulation (you can try 2 x 12 gauge)
I still use 1 x 10 gauge Silver plated Mil-Spec on my speaker cables mainly because replacing them on my 10 ft cables would be more than I am willing to spend, since I would probably go with 2 x 12 gauge wires, since I have not found a vendor that sells 10 gauge UP-OCC

I did try using bare UP-OCC wire inside a Teflon tube for both the signal and the neutral and the resulting sound was not to my liking - it sounded far too clinical for may tastes, so I reverted to the Mil-Spec for the neutral

But - at this level of performance it all becomes a matter of
  • personal preferences
  • your system components
  • the other cables used
  • and of course BUDGET

Hope that helps - Steve


tecknik
482 posts
 
Thank you Steve I appreciate you sharing your experience and knowledge and hope to try some mil spec silver plated cable from take five audio one day,
tecknik
482 posts
 
Steve, how long of a neutral would you have on a dc cable 3 to 1 , 4 to 1 ?

thanks you
williewonka
3,072 posts
 
@tecknik With a 16 gauge neutral I would probably go for 4:1 ratio

@svampebob - just realized I did not fully answer all of your questions...
Do we know for sure, that the quality of the neutral matters as long as its resistance is lower than the signal wire?
I have tried a few wires for the neutral and until I tried the UP-OCC copper, the Silver Plated stranded Mil-Spec always seemed to perform the best.

But when I tried the UP-OCC copper for the neutral, the improvements were quite noticeable. I was also able to use a single wire as opposed to the double strand of mil-spec previously used.

So I believe the UP-OCC wires is capable of significantly better electrical transmission when compared to a double strand of Silver Plated mil-spec having the same gauge.

Using a double UP-OCC for the neutral may improve things even further, especially on high end components.

Hope that helps - Steve
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