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Another comment on Duelund DCA16GA

70.91.92.17
Posted on September 12, 2016 at 09:31:00
Salectric
Audiophile

Posts: 1358
Location: East Coast
Joined: February 23, 2003
 I posted something a few days ago about my reactions to the new Duelund 16g wire. After I was done listening to it, I sent my Duelund wire to a friend to try. He has not followed the comments on the internet about the Duelund and I didn't tell him what I thought of it other than I wasn't all that excited about it. So he tried it in his system for a few days in place of his regular Audio Note SPx silver speaker cable. His system is mostly DIY but very high quality---horn speakers with TAD woofers and compression drivers, driven by a SE amp.

After listening for a while, he put his Audio Note cable back in and then said in an email: "Wow, not even close. The AN are better in every aspect, including warmth and bass weight. One contrast that stood out was how homogenized the Duelunds sound in comparison to the AN."

What I find so interesting is that I also used the word "homogenizing" in my post. What I said was "By contrast the Duelund (with either the 8402 or the Eclipse interconnects) has a homogenizing effect; it obscures subtle differences in tonal color and dynamics."

Just another perspective. Each person has to make up his own mind.

 

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RE: Another comment on Duelund DCA16GA, posted on September 13, 2016 at 18:53:05
Duster
Manufacturer

Posts: 17117
Location: Pacific Northwest
Joined: August 25, 2002
 Hi Salectric,

I take it you built a pair of DIY speaker cables with the 16 AWG Duelund wire. If so, what was your design criteria and build methods?

Cheers, Duster

 

RE: Another comment on Duelund DCA16GA, posted on September 13, 2016 at 19:45:02
Salectric
Audiophile

Posts: 1358
Location: East Coast
Joined: February 23, 2003
 I used the Duelund wire in the same manner recommended by Jeff Day---the two wires with a slight twist around each other, maybe 2 to 3 twists per foot, and with bare ends. No solder, no spades or bananas. If I had liked the sound, I would have tried some spades. At this point, I doubt I will do anything further with them.

 

Thanks for your feedback, posted on September 14, 2016 at 07:55:41
1973shovel
Audiophile

Posts: 10117
Location: Greenville SC
Joined: February 25, 2007
 It's funny how sometimes a frenzy will be created by the opinions of a few. Remember that Radio Shack portable CD player, the CD-3400, sometime back in the 1990s? It got plenty of lather in the press as "a giant killer", and I confess to buying in, and buying one when they went on sale.

Ho hum. I got my use out of it as a portable, but in my main system it was nothing special.

Thanks again for letting us know your results.

 

RE: Thanks for your feedback, posted on September 14, 2016 at 08:46:25
Salectric
Audiophile

Posts: 1358
Location: East Coast
Joined: February 23, 2003
 Thanks! Yeah, the Rat Shack CD player is a good example. Some others include Art Dudley's magnet wire interconnects that he wrote about back in the Listener magazine days; the Home Depot speaker wire craze 10 or so years ago; and there was some really cheap A/V hookup interconnect that was a big buzz 10 or 15 years ago (forget the name right now). I tried them all!

The bottom line is none of these things was a rip-off and the people praising them had good intentions I am sure. We are all looking for a bargain. But it is easy to get carried away with "group think" enthusiasm. Plus with cables in particular different people have different reactions to any given cable, so even a very good cable isn't going to be preferred by all people in all systems.

 

RE: Thanks for your feedback, posted on September 14, 2016 at 09:01:22
Mick Wolfe
Audiophile

Posts: 3364
Location: AZ
Joined: October 10, 1999
Contributor
  Since: September 4, 2000
 I gave my 3400 away as I remember.....within a couple of months.

 

RE: Another comment on Duelund DCA16GA, posted on September 22, 2016 at 09:54:09
santodx5
Audiophile

Posts: 6
Joined: September 5, 2016
 Salectric,

Have you compare Duelund 16GA to Supra PlY 3.4W?

I am thinking these 2 cables for my internal speaker cable and my 7.1 system cables.

Please advise.

Thanks

 

RE: Another comment on Duelund DCA16GA, posted on September 22, 2016 at 20:35:03
Salectric
Audiophile

Posts: 1358
Location: East Coast
Joined: February 23, 2003
 I have never heard a Supra cable in my system. I did hear an impressive sounding system at a dealer using Supra speaker cables but other than that no experience.

 

RE: Another comment on Duelund DCA16GA, posted on September 23, 2016 at 09:54:49
Mick Wolfe
Audiophile

Posts: 3364
Location: AZ
Joined: October 10, 1999
Contributor
  Since: September 4, 2000
 Can't speak for the Duelund, but FWIW, the Supra Ply 3.4 was clearly better than the WE#16 in my system.

 

RE: Another comment on Duelund DCA16GA, posted on September 24, 2016 at 02:09:14
santodx5
Audiophile

Posts: 6
Joined: September 5, 2016
 I think I will try the supra Ply 3.4W, it is cheaper than the Duelund as well.

 

RE: Another comment on Duelund DCA16GA, posted on October 1, 2016 at 02:58:59
pc123v
Audiophile

Posts: 225
Joined: February 6, 2014
 Hi Duster and everyone.

Question...for a single conductor cable like the Duelund 16GA (used as speaker cables)...would a loose twist (6 to 7 twists per foot) of the -/+ conductors together result in a change in capacitance? If so...increase or decrease...ie...vs untwisted? 4m pair. Also...possibly OCD question here... would an inch or slightly more distance between -/+ conductors be enough for a zero effect? Read that an increase in capacitance in this scenario could result in HF roll off or is the opposite true? Thanks again.

 

RE: Another comment on Duelund DCA16GA, posted on October 1, 2016 at 11:45:52
Duster
Manufacturer

Posts: 17117
Location: Pacific Northwest
Joined: August 25, 2002
 A loose twist will not affect capacitance and inductance very much, and would be more beneficial for flexible routing of the cable than for noise cancellation purposes. Capacitance as a cable issue affects high frequency roll-off. Close coupling of the two conductors without any gaps along the entire length of a simple DIY twisted pair speaker cable would be a better option, IME.

 

RE: Another comment on Duelund DCA16GA, posted on October 1, 2016 at 13:00:47
pc123v
Audiophile

Posts: 225
Joined: February 6, 2014
 @Duster...Thanks again! Am I correct in saying that close coupling of the two conductors would reduce capacitance which in turn could prevent any HF roll off from occurring? Thanks.

 

RE: Another comment on Duelund DCA16GA, posted on October 1, 2016 at 13:59:49
Duster
Manufacturer

Posts: 17117
Location: Pacific Northwest
Joined: August 25, 2002
 Actually, close coupling of the two conductors will better optimize the capacitance and inductance of a twisted pair while providing effective noise cancellation. What application are you concerned about speaker cable capacitance? Does your particular power amplifier oscillate when high capacitance speaker cables are used? Inductance tends to be a bigger issue for speaker cables, not capacitance which tends to be a bigger issue for line-level interconnects.

 

RE: Another comment on Duelund DCA16GA, posted on October 2, 2016 at 07:34:51
pc123v
Audiophile

Posts: 225
Joined: February 6, 2014
 @Duster. Actually ... my goal is to achieve HF rolloff. Read somewhere that "twisting" the -/+ conductors together could result in a lower capacitance. I also recall having read that HF rolloff could occur as capacitance goes up. I didn't go as far as researching the effects of inductance. Speaker cable I am trying now is the duelund with 3 other interconnects...one of them being the belden 8402. I did have the -/+ conductors separate initially and now loosely twisted. Loosely twisted did yield somewhat a brighter presentation...but I did switch interconnects around too. Am not tech inclined ...:(. I know I should just go ahead and try all possible configurations. Guess I am being lazy as it's a pain in butt fiddling with cables around my rack and listening room due to layout. And get some education on the effects of capacitance on speaker cables.

Thanks for your time and patience :)

 

RE: Another comment on Duelund DCA16GA, posted on October 2, 2016 at 16:15:14
Duster
Manufacturer

Posts: 17117
Location: Pacific Northwest
Joined: August 25, 2002



If you are using a bare wire connection, a banana plug, or a brass base metal spade, the Xhadow Reference Spade should provide a more full-bodied tonality, and calm down the treble energy. Even though the Xhadow Reference Spade is silver plated, the base metal is pure copper, and like the Xhadow Precision RCA, the connector does not sound bright, to my ear. Priced at US$14.15 per pair (US$56.60 for a quantity of 8) including cryo treatment from Take Five Audio, it's probably the best bang for the buck premium speaker cable connector, IME.

See link:

 

RE: Another comment on Duelund DCA16GA, posted on October 6, 2016 at 12:04:12
pc123v
Audiophile

Posts: 225
Joined: February 6, 2014
 @ Duster...Thanks again!

 

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