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
@ketchup - I have tried a few different sized coils - one of them faily close to the signal wires and the sound was very good. I think the coil being at almost 90 degrees to the signal wire provides te biggest benefit and not the distance from the signal wire Regards |
@ketchup .... Interconnects
Speaker Cables
Power Cables
All cables start off sounding great, but they tend to sound a little rough after around the 15-20 hours mark and then they get better Hope that helps - Steve |
That's pretty much what I settled on, although I added a little time due to the gauge of the double/double. While building these cables, which is about the 4th set of cables I have made using KLE RCAs, I finally found a pretty good method of terminating them. I tinned the wires after twisting them together and then filed the end of the tinned wires into a male point with a taper that matched that of the female "V" of the KLE tabs. I then tinned the bare part of the wires that were filed as well as the "V" on the RCA. Then, I used my soldering "helping hands" to hold both pieces and used the arms of the helping hands to apply pressure to the pieces, pushing them together, and then soldered as usual. I feel that applying pressure pushes the wire into contact with the "V" during soldering, making the two parts physically touch each other, resulting in a better connection. |
Steve,
I was referring to the first one. Two stranded L/N wires. Also with speaker cables. I used to always twist in the same direction. Tried several with opposite twist and continue to do this now. Can't confirm that is does make a difference...
Marty |
