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
No problem...

In "single ended" designed cables there is...
  • a conductor (or signal wire) to carry the "signal" (or the "live" in the case of a power cables)
  • and a second conductor (or wire) to connect the neutral sides of the circuits of the connected components
However, for "balanced" (XLR) interconnects there is
  • a +ve signal wire
  • a -ve signal wire - which carries the same signal as the +ve, but 180 degrees out of phase
  • AND there is also a neutral wire
You can also have balanced power supplies
  • where the "Live" and "Neutral" conductors (or wires) each carry the same output voltage, but 180 degrees out of phase
  • so there is NO actual neutral wire that is at ZERO volts
  • The Helix Geometry is not best suited to this kind of power supply
In addition to all of  that, some amplifiers are designed as a "fully balanced" symmetrical design, where
  • the speaker terminals (i.e. both signal and neutral wires) carry the same signal, but 180 degrees out of phase
  • but there is NO actual neutral wire that is at ZERO volts
  • The Helix Geometry is not best suited to this kind of Amplifier design

Hope that helps - Steve
@wig - sorry - no experience with those.

But the Furutech plugs look pretty good on paper

Switchcraft also makes some nice looking mini plugs.

This one seems to have silver plated pins
Switchcraft TA3FX Female 3-Pin Tini-QG Mini-XLR Cable Connector (Nickel) | Performance Audio


Regards - Steve
The Link is to a Brand I have not discovered in past searches.
That is the benefit of doing a search, the Robots throw other unknown products into the line up.
This Brand also does Mini XLR but I could not make out the lead out pin materials.
The one in the Link is looking likely that it is a Gold Plated Copper, as the specification refers to plating materials and Metals, where Gold and Copper are listed.  
What is very evident is that these are very competitively priced.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001458223192.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.1000014.5.4b3070d7a2biQ1&...