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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
williewonka
3,072 posts
 

@tecknik - I've found shileding on cables impacts the openess, so I never use it.

Also the Helix coil acts like a faraday cage, which makes the need for a shield redundant.

I've clenched a Helix power cable next to a Helix interconnect in my fist with the volume at full volume (no music playing) and the resulting hum was barely audible

I did have one instance where a friends very old tube system created a hum with a Helix Interconenct connecting the turntable to the amp's internal phono stage. So he had to use a conventional shieided cables for that duty..

But I have also had reports from many others that there was no hum present in that situation on their more modern systems.

Personally, I have never had a hum issue due to the helix interconnects, so I have never pursued using a screen on them

 

Hope that helps - Steve

pindac's avatar
pindac
2,501 posts
 

@williewonka Hi Steve

Thank You for your support.

lemonhaze
411 posts
 

Hi guys, I have just received an email back from Stephanie at Parts Connexion that the 14AWG bare Connex solid Cu. wire is out of stock and that the business that supplies it has closed down !&^%#

Any ideas for a substitute?

I have 70 hrs play time on the 2 x 24AWG Ag / SOCT-18 interconnect which has amazing high frequency detail and brilliance (it's not really bright)  but it just sounds lightweight so I am considering adding a single 20AWG solid Ag to each, resulting in about 17.5AWG   Any thoughts?

The earlier made CCC interconnect by comparison sounds weightier and easier to listen to but seems to lack the inner glow of the Silver.

norco74
17 posts
 

I would wait after the 400 hours burn-in mark before making any fine tuning to the design.

 

lemonhaze
411 posts
 

Yes, I agree. At the price of silver wire I will not be making premature decisions. The first helix I built was with PC Triple C Cu. which I left in its insulation and has had now about 220 hrs. It appears to have stabilised but will not disturb it for now. It will be relatively easy to remove the signal wire, remove its insulation and place each wire in a PTFE tube and listen again.

I have for some time suffered from an upper mid-range glare. Female vocals were mostly unlistenable. The CCC calmed that down to the point that we were able to listen to music that we once avoded.  As previously mentioned I can now listen to more of my files which IMO is a huge win.

The extra sparkle from the OCC Ag. is attractive and for my system may require  combining a strand of CCC which is 19AWG Cu. with the 2 x 24AWG Ag. though I don't know yet how Cu. and Ag. in parallel will behave.

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