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

Showing 11 responses by dbass

@williewonka I would love it if you tried the VHAudio copper in your ICs and reported back - but I have already ordered the Mundorf wire so that is what I will be assembling next week when it arrives.

@wig What type of cable cooking do you do for your ICs, SCs and PCs?  I have a Frybaby that can do voltage and current conditioning on ICs and SCs and would love to learn from your experiences and usage.

Thanks
Awesome if you think they are better I will have to build another set of RCAs using the VH Audio Copper.

@williewonka Any updates on using the VH Audio copper cables in your interconnects?

@wig Thx! for your comparisons
@williewonka Again Thx! for your feedback on these options.

I built the Helix Interconnects with the Mundorf 1mm Silver Gold wire.  I deviated in 1 way from the recipe and used Cardas 1/4 Lb. Ultra pure tin/lead/Silver/copper Quad Eutectic instead of the WBT 4% silver solder.  Am I losing sonics by not using the WBT solder?
@wig Great to hear.  I have new speaker drivers (Lii Audio Crystal 10s) and a new 4 watt SET amp (Whammerdyne DGA-2+RAM) which are high resolution and sound wonderful.  They show the weakness in my front end system and anything else.  I need to make 2 Helix Power Cords and get a new streamer and DAC.

Regardless I love the sound I am getting now and can't wait to get over 200 hours on the cables.
@williewonka Thanks for sharing your design and actively answer questions about it.  I have built the interconnects and speaker cables and am enjoying them.  I am in the process of upgrading my system and these cables have given me a better sound than the old AQ interconnects and Duelund speaker cables I was using.  I can't wait to get a quality front end to my system to hear how the sound improves.

I am looking for a good source for the Neotech cable to build these cables (PC, IC, and speaker).  The first question I have is do I want the stranded wire or the solid wire - as I think I see both in UP-OCC from Neotech?  And I see options from SonicCraft at the moment - any other good options?

Thanks!

@williewonka 

Thank you very much for the clarification!  I will search out vendors for the materials.  My first goto is usually partsconnexion as long as they have the item in stock.

And again thank you so much for this cable receipe - I have made a set of rca interconnects 2 years ago and they are very nice.  I have built a new system in my great room and now am ready to replace all the cables with your helix design.  So I will finally get to hear it to it's full effect.

Best wishes.

Thank you Steve - I cannot say enough how I appreciate the time and efforts you have put into everything!
@williewonka - Any updates on your speaker cable build running your signal and neutral wires in parallel.  Referring to your post from 6-23.  Thx.