Duelund conversion to DIY Helix Geometry Cabling

How about simply using braided copper shield as ground wire for the power cable? I don't think it play a critic role other than protection. It meets the gauge requirement as well. Regards.

@williewonka In your post from Jan-15 '22, are you still putting each signal wire inside it’s own Teflon tube?

@bigslacker - That is correct - it provides the very best performance because

• The tube is quite rigid and does not collapse around the wire so the actual point of contact between the wire and the tube is extremely small
• the air gap inside the tube (i.e.around the wire). becomes the dielectric and results in a Dielectric Constant that is very close to Air - which has a Dk of 1.1.
• Lower Dk results in improved clarity and details, which in turn improves the image asccuracy

For best results the inside diameter of the tube should be 25% - 30% larger than the diameter of the bare wire to be most effective. Larger is OK, but does not yield any better results

Hope that helps

Thanks. I ordered a batch of parts from Take Five Audio.  They had all of the parts in 1 place and they ship down here to the States cheaply.

🤞 I got the tubing sizes correct.

Thanks for the amazing thread @williewonka  @wig  @grannyring and everyone.

Ron

The Ultimate Helix DIY Cable ? - I think so

This version implements everything I have learned/tried over the past few years

• 2 x 20 guage UP-OCC 5N solid Silver wire from Parts Connexion, each wire in it’s own teflon tube for the Signal wires, with a complete twist every 2" - 3"
• 2 x 18 gauge UP-OCC 6N solid copper from Parts Connexion, each wire in it’s own teflon tube for the Neutral wires
• Teflon tube with an internal diameter equivalent to a 14 gauge bare wire
• Absolute Harmony RCA plugs

I pondered this build for about 3 months because of the difficulties there might be attempting to wind a coil using a solid wire inside a Teflon tube - and not only one wire, but two wires, because this build would adopt the Double/Double approach.

• now - If you are using a wire with insulation, the insulation, just bends with the wire
• my concern was that the insulation would creep down the wire as I wound it
• leaving some part of the coil without Teflon tube around it and no way to remedy this problem.
• turns out, provided you hand wind the first 4-5 turns, then the insulation seems to stay in place and you can then use the drill to finish the winding process
• But you do have to proceed carefully because you have to control the feeding of the two wires very carefully otherwise you can get spaces or worse still, the wires coils on top of the previous windings.

The rest of the fabrication went without problem - I used a 3/16" (5mm) rod to wind the coil on.

Another concern was whether there would be sufficient improvement to justify the expense of using silver wire?

The answer came as soon as I plugged in the cables, bridging from my Bluesound Node 2i to my Bryston B135 amp - that uses...

1. Power cables are all 2 x 14 gauge UP-OCC bare Solid copper in Teflon tubes for the Live conductor with 2 x 12 gauge UP-OCC stranded copper for the neutral
2. Speaker cables are 2 x 14 gauge bare solid UP-OCC copper in Teflon tubes for the Signal conductor with 1 x 10 gauge stranded silver plated Mil-Spec for the neutral
3. The previous Interconnect I was comparing it to was 2 x 18 gauge solid UP-OCC copper in Teflon tubes for the Signal conductor with 1 x 16 gauge Neotech solid UP-OCC copper wire for the neutral

Well - this new Interconnect has surpassed all of my expectations..

1. image was the first noticeable improvement - larger in all directions with much more precise placement of artist and performers
2. Dynamics are faster and crisper
3. There is more body to the mid range - they sound "warmer"
4. lower frequencies have a lot more texture and precision
5. mid/upper range Details and Clarity are the two attributes that sort of crept up on me as I played through my audition tracks
6. there are far more micro details - i.e. the venue acoustics are more apparent and there are far more of the little echoes and reverberations of the concert hall.
7. But there is a more musical presentation about these cables - they just seem more complete
8. Listening at lower levels you still hear all the details without compromising details, musicality and emotion of the music.

This is probably the end of the line for the Helix, mainly because because I am all out of ideas as to where to take them next :-)

But boy-oh-boy - what an ending!

It’s good to end on "a high note" - pun intended :-)

Give them a try - for me it was worth it

Regards - Steve