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Duelund speaker cable

I thought I would share my experience with Duelund hookup cables.

Thanks to a recommendation on here a few months ago, and follow-up on Jeffs place, I replaced my TelluriumQ Ultra Black II speaker cable with Duelund DCA12GA Dual.  My reason for doing so was to tame the brightness which had crept into my streaming system following a series of upgrades to power supply and isolation.

For this purpose they did not disappoint.  The Duelunds introduced a richness in tone and a very satisfying musicality, quite different from the over analytical TQs, and all at a fraction of the price.   Another selling point for the Duelunds is that the single-wired bare cable can be threaded through the 3 sets of binding posts of my ATC SCM40s.  No need for plugs, spades or jumpers.

Fast forward a few months, and I identified and resolved the inherent brightness in my system.   An overhaul of the pre-streamer ethernet stage was the fix.  I can't speak highly enough of the Uptone EtherRegen.  Add a good LPS, fiber input and clock to it, and the gift which was already giving plenty just got even better. 

The overall effect of the new EtherRegen ecosystem was to bring the sound closer to analog, which inevitably pushed the system towards a little too much warmth.

So, on Jeff's advice I have swapped out the DCA12GA for the DCA16GA.  Even with only 5 hours burn-in, the uplift in dynamics, tonality, timber is clear, without as far as I can see, any negatives.  The bass is still there, and the treble still sweet and smooth. 

I thoroughly recommend these cables.  They may not look much, especially compared to the "anaconda" type speaker cables out there, but at the price they are an easy and painless try.   The DCA12GA is a great choice for someone looking to tame a bright system.  Otherwise, give the DCA16GA a try.  I can't see myself ever needing to move on from it.

lollipopguild
lollipopguild's avatar
lollipopguild OP
139 posts
 

@alexberger 

Hi.  I've tried them all.  Like Jeff I noticed a difference between the 12 and 16 gauge.  The former being warmer and fuller - which suited by system at the time.

The 10 gauge bucked the trend, however, Instead of being even warmer than the 12, it to my ears sounded evenly balanced across the frequency range, while additionally offering improved dynamics. 

If you want a fuller account of the signatures of the three, then best read Jeff's full articles.   

I've been using the 10 gauge for a couple of years now, and am very happy with it.  I use it single wired, and bare-wired into my speaker's terminal posts.  My speakers are 3-way and offer 3 sets of terminals for tri-wiring.  Using bare wires threaded through them removes the need for jumpers and plugs and spades (all of which are usually a quick route to spending silly money with other cables).

If you do bare wire, just be very careful no stray strands exist which might short your amp's output stage.

The great thing about Duelund cables is they're very affordable, compared to most on the market.  Give it a go, and give it a couple of months to let it settle.

alexberger
958 posts
 

Hi @lollipopguild ,

Thank you for your advices.
I just received DCA10GA. I made a 2m pair and connected it with bare wire. I used a DCA16GA 1.5m pair with tinned wire by WBT silver solder (that I have been using for 6 year).I listened to DCA10GA from scratch, and I liked the sound. It has a similar tone to DCA16GA but deeper bass and better separation. It is much more clear and easy to hear each separate instrument and voice. The high frequencies are not as refined yet. But it needs some break in time.

How long does it take to break in these cables?

I read Jeff Day reviews about Duelund speaker cables. He wrote that DCA10GA sounds brighter than DCA16GA in his system. But he mentioned it can be a result of too short a run in time of DCA10GA he did.

I have Altec 604E speakers with a DIY crossover based on the original Altec n1500 crossover schematics. I learned how to adjust tonal balance with changing capacitor and resistor values of this crossover. So I hope I can adjust it after the cable breaks in if I need to.

alexberger
958 posts
 

Hi @lollipopguild ,

I have been using DCA10GA for around 40 hours of music and a couple hours of pink noise. It is super resolving compared to DCA16GA. Much more texture and details in lover midrange and bass. In some records with bloated bass I can hear each instrument in low frequencies. It is very good for symphonic music and records with a big amount of bass.

I still can hear some roughness in sound. It needs more break-in time to make it sound smoother, more organic and less rough.

Yesterday I connected the mid-bass driver to a crossover with DCA10GA wire. I used DCA16GA before. I also use DCA16GA for horn compression drivers (1.5KHz to 10KHz) and for supertweeters (over 10KHz). The effect is similar to changing speaker wires but a little bit smaller. I can't hear the bad multi wiring (when sound falling apart) effect so far.

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