Duelund conversion to DIY Helix Geometry Cabling

@lemonhaze

. . . and sailing background and as a professional delivery skipper (now retired or maybe not 😉)

Not! LOL.

Nice to read about tips from a fellow sailor on this forum. Did you see ‘Race of the Century’ on Netflix?

My experience is primarily working the foredeck on ocean-racers. I’ve had the good fortune to see countless sunrises/sunsets during my watches over the years – as well as to hear the gun at the finish line. Also, the misfortune of being pummeled by horizontal rain – with raindrops the size of bullets, pounding into square waves for days at a time, losing steerage by reefs, visiting the masthead while under weigh - and heaving-to during a Force 9. What’s not to love! 😎

Re: audio. IMHO, there’s a commonality with the physics of electricity and the physics of fluid dynamics – hydro & aero. When encountering resistance, the flow of electricity has a similar behavior to micro-climates. The result of ‘friction’ caused by obstacles, colliding vectors, eddying, etc. Occurring at connections/junctions – interaction with insulation – purity of wire – et al. It’s all fascinating!

Please continue to share your knowledge and observations.

_ _ _ _ _

Re: Silicon grease & heat-shrink.   Sounds similar to what Purist Audio Design does with their mixtures to counter EMI.

@lemonhaze - WRT

Are these intended for analogue or digital duties?

The really nice thing about the Helix design with the Harmony RCA plugs, is that they can be used for either duty, without reservation.

You also do not need to worry about the length of the interconnects when used for digital purposes

• I have used lengths from 18 inches to 6 ft and not noticed any degredation of sound from either analogue or digital interconnects
• others report the same for Balanced cables also.

WRT the my comments regarding possible corrosion - turns out my "fears", or perhaps a better word would be suspicions, regarding the possible corrosion of bare wires inside teflon tubes were without merit.

In the 18 months since I implemented the first Helix Image Air adaption, I can report that while the initial brightness of the copper has become a little more subdued after the first couple of months, it now appears that any further dulling has not taken place.

Whereas the piece of "sacrificial" bare wire wire that I placed on top of my audio stand for comparison purposes has now become very dull.

So I believe that the glue in the heat shrink I use has been very effective in sealing the teflon tubes.

Others have used hot glue to seal the tubes, which is also very effective

But it is always very educational to hear of other creative solutions to any problem, so thank you very much for your most informative post.

I’m sure other members will also find it very useful

Regards - Steve

@williewonka, Congratulations on a long thread without the usual cable deniers disrupting flow. Good that you find the interconnects work for both analogue and digital. I need to make up a cable with RCA on one end and BNC on the other end to connect to an old Wadia 15 DAC   I don't remember seeing BNC mentioned, can you recommend a good BNC  connector please.

@steakster, a pleasant surprise to read your post and last night thoroughly enjoyed  ‘Race of the Century’  I have missed a few deliveries from USA because of crew shortage. Would you be interested? Nothing at the minute but who knows?

I have watched clips of the final race before but not with all the build up and background. I had the good fortune once on a stop-over in Bermuda to watch match racing in Hamilton harbour. 17 of the world's top 25 skippers competed. I took the boat owner out to the start line in the rubber duck with food and beer and we closely observed them jockeying for the favoured end of start line which shifted often in gusts. Great fun.

I lived on my boat in Durban harbour east coast of South Africa for 32 years and finally sold it to marry a girl I met at my 21st birthday party. I have been asked why it took me over 40 years to marry her and my answer is much like my audio hobby, I don't like rushing things 😬  We now live in rural Ireland and very little audio interest here.

So my deliveries were local to start which meant most were Durban to Cape Town. The sailor's bible 'Ocean Sailing Passages of the World' warns of waves up to 20 meters in height on this stretch of Indian Ocean seaboard caused by one of the strongest currents on the planet rushing into an opposing SW regularly gusting at over 60 knots equal to Beaufort force 11  This builds character!

On a 35' catamaran delivery from Cape Town to Annapolis for their annual boat show we made it to Barbados 14 hours before hurricane Ivan came through which was full category 5 and at the time claimed strongest ever. Waited for the sea to settle some then set course for US east coast where we encountered hurricane Jeane which had hit Florida then curved North and chased us up the coast with winds steadily increasing. The anemometer broke on the masthead, stuck at 82 knots. I was preparing to head for shelter, nearest being Charleston but radio reported some easterly component in hurricane's heading so I held course. The hurricane became easterly then did a loop de loop and curved back and hit Florida a second time! This is what caused terrible damage as lots of the storm shutters and other precautions had been taken down. With 21 Atlantic crossings I have many stories but not to be told here. Some guns, some drugs, some vanilla and sea rescue and scuppering.

Hope nobody gets seasick'

Charles

@lemonhaze - I'm yet to hear of anyone using the Helx geometry with BNC connectors, so I am unable to recommend that type of connector.

Here's a few from Parts Connexion...

Search Results for: bnc (partsconnexion.com)

Hope that helps