2. cables
  3. 156742-1458

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
pindac's avatar
pindac
2,361 posts
 
The name of OCC is given the name of the Professor Atsumi Ohno who discovered the Manufacture Process, where a Long Crystal was produced with the Wire.

I would assume if a Wire is produced with a Crystal Structure that is within the dimension that is outlined in the criteria for a Wire to be called OCC, there might be some ground for a challenge to be made.

There might be Wires Produced today that have a Long Crystal that is outside of the original OCC Specification, but when compared to a OFC Crystal qualifies as a comparison for it to be to be called OCC without too much risk of being challenged, especially if produced outside of the juristiction of the Patents.

Out of Interest, are the Five Patents known to have a end product of a produced wire ? and I wonder who the additional producers might have been.      
jambaj0e
46 posts
 
So I just bought a newly-made helix power cable from one of the guys on Tube Owners Facebook group (I think he's on this forum too) for my Cayin HA-300. Previous power cable is a Morrow Audio MAP3.

It seems to be fine for the last 2 days, but today I'm hearing a strange high-pitch static hum, kind of a buzz hum at times when no music is playing. It's not affecting my VU meter, nor does it change in volume or goes away when I put the volume down to zero. I haven't heard this before, especially on my previous cable. What can be causing this?
aniwolfe
752 posts
 
@jambaj0e

Test it with a cheater plug and see if the noise goes away.
jambaj0e
46 posts
 
But it has been all the way to this afternoon when I listened to it before I went running. Then I didn't listened to my system until after I ate dinner and took a shower, and that's when the problem started.
Nothing was physically touched on my system other than the power button and volume, and no other new devices were plugged in.
Not the mention, my amp and Chord Hugo TT2 DAC are plugged into a PS Audio Power Plant 3 Ac regenerator.
williewonka
3,066 posts
 
@jambaj I have read about (and observed on YouTube) noises (i.e. hum) that do not change volume when the volume control is adjusted on tube gear. It can be due to the design of a specific brand of tube.

It is related to the actual "design" of the plates and heater within the tube. Sometimes changing the tube to another brand will fix this situation.

Unfortunately there is no way of knowing which brands will work

So far I have only heard of one other incident from an Audiogon member where a hum was observed on a tube power amp after installing a Helix power cable. But that amp had a lot of tubes, so trying to debug the issue proved to be a challenge, so the member just used his previous cable

Can you try
  1. reseating the tubes
  2. switching the tubes around

Do you have any different brands of tubes you can try?

I would try the old cable again - if the noise is still there then it might be due to a tube that is close to failing?

BUT - Why did this happen with the Helix Cable?

Unfortunately, component designers can push their designs very close to a "limit" to squeeze out every ounce of performance
  • they do not know what components and cables you will be using with their product
  • so changing something as simple as a power cable can cause issues. 
I have experience component failure once before after a braided power cable was used with it
  • the root cause of that failure was in fact the speaker cables being used - not the power cable
  • the new power cable allowed the amp to work more efficiently, which caused it to exceed a "threshold" and the amp failed
  • once the speaker cables were changed the amp worked perfectly with the new power cable

Keep us posted on your progress

Regards - Steve




More to discover