Duelund Speaker Cables for Avantgarde Speakers

[Hear Here]

I’d like to hear from anyone using these speaker cables, particularly the “Duelund Dual DCA16GA tinned copper multistrand wire in cotton and oil”.

https://www.hificollective.co.uk/wire/duelund-dual-dca16ga-tinned-multistrand-copper-wire-cotton-oil-insulated.html

This is the cable I think may suit my high efficiency horn speakers very well as the brand has been spoken of very highly by the former Avantgarde distributors for the US and the UK.

I’m anticipating that this 16 gauge version may be better than the heavier and lighter 12 and 20 versions with my speakers, but I’d appreciate opinions. I’d also use it for the 65 cm links between main and mid horns.

One thing I’m trying to reduce is the sibilance I’m hearing at present – it’s slightly more noticeable with my new Duo XDs compared with earlier Duos and Unos. I don’t know if cable choice has any effect on this but worth asking.

At present I have the choice of:

Cabledyne Reference Silver (all silver)
Signal Cable Ultra (copper - bi-wire)
Chord Odyssey (silver plated copper - bi-wire and single-wire)
Cables marked Gotham GAC-SPK 2x2.5mm (unknown, unused and untested)

Or should I stick with one of these? I must admit, I hear very little difference between the first 2 above despite their very different construction – and length. If Duelund is likely to be superior for sound and not too stiff, I’ll go for a set but other suggestions welcome.

Thanks in anticipation. Peter

 

[chet atkins]

Duelund 600V DCA12GA Sn-Cu cable vs. Duelund DCA12GA Sn-Cu cable - which is better? - Jeff's Place (positive-feedback.com)

 

[Tam Lin]

I said before and I'll say it again; upgrade the xover caps to Duelund CAST SN-CU.

 

[Robh3606]

What is the advantage of cotton and oil over Teflon??

Rob

 

[Germanboxers]

Hello Peter,

I made my own Dueland speaker cables using the 12AWG cotton and oil cable. They are excellent on my Duo Mezzos. I have a very expensive set of jumpers (Shunyata Sigma) I used to use from midrange horn to tweeter horn and the Duelands are just better. Aside from the jumpers, I only have a direct comparison with my Zu Event speaker cable...again, the Duelands were much better.

I also (eventually) made all of my XLR interconnects out of 16AWG Dueland cotton and oil cable. I probably should have made them out of 20 AWG, but I’m happy with them.

Best feedback I can give is that I just don’t think about upgrading cables anymore.

 

[chet atkins]

Hello Peter,

I made my own Dueland speaker cables using the 12AWG cotton and oil cable. They are excellent on my Duo Mezzos. I have a very expensive set of jumpers (Shunyata Sigma) I used to use from midrange horn to tweeter horn and the Duelands are just better. Aside from the jumpers, I only have a direct comparison with my Zu Event speaker cable...again, the Duelands were much better.

I also (eventually) made all of my XLR interconnects out of 16AWG Dueland cotton and oil cable. I probably should have made them out of 20 AWG, but I’m happy with them.

Best feedback I can give is that I just don’t think about upgrading cables anymore.

DUELUND Dual DCA16GA Cable + DUELUND "Plastic Free" Brown/Gold o/Copper Plugs (1M - RCA) (partsconnexion.com) you should try this one [read about the schroder method on audiogon

 

[chet atkins]

Duelund 12awg (DCA12GA600V) Tin Plate Copper Hookup Wire 600VDC-Rated (partsconnexion.com) you should try the 600v for speaker wire ....i also have all my power cords made from this wire...DUELUND DCA12GA (600V) Hook-up Wire, Terminated with ConneX Premium Power/IEC Plugs, 2 Meter (partsconnexion.com)

 

[kende]

Hello Peter
I am agree with( germanboxers). I have duelund 16awg , and 20awg in my speakers for low and high frequency.
16awg tinned copper RCA cable, and 12awg tinned copper speaker cable. the 16awg has the most tone color ,vibrant timbral texture from all DCA tinned copper cables. My source is a tube based cd player , tube integrated.I have tried the 16awg but I like better the 12AWG. It is system dependable. If your system is on the bright side i would try 12AWG for speaker cable. Smooths down the high notes a bit in my case . All of them are very balanced top to bottom.
Good luck.
The RCA I made it myself ,not a big deal and is cheaper than from Partsconnexion.
Regards.

 

[Chop]

The magic words "in cotton and oil" make me think they may be similar to the PHY cables, which are also cotton clad. Similar to the old Be Yamamura Millennium 5000 cables. Although I haven't used the Dueland per se, assuming they are on similar principles I can recommend cotton clad cables with Avantgardes.

 

[Anil Kalagatla]

To those using the Duelund DCA12GA cables: how exactly does one twist the cables? Do you first remove the cotton covering/sheath to separate the two wires and then twist them? Or just use the cables as they come, inside the sheath? I thought I would check first before I destroyed the cables

Anil

 

[Hear Here]

To those using the Duelund DCA12GA cables: how exactly does one twist the cables? Do you first remove the cotton covering/sheath to separate the two wires and then twist them? Or just use the cables as they come, inside the sheath? I thought I would check first before I destroyed the cables

Anil

Are you planning to use Duelund as interconnects or as speaker cables? For speakers, just use the cable as it is, It's much more difficult to remove the outer cotton covering than most plastic covered cables and stripping off the sheath around the wire is also a little trickier. As the inner sheaths are both black, use a meter to ensure you connect red bananas to the same wire. Probably good to use coloured heat-shrink covering to finish off.

If making interconnects (I've never done this) I understand twisting is best but at what interval I don't know, but probably using the single core rather than twin core may be better for interconnects - others can hopefully advise. Peter

 

[Anil Kalagatla]

Great, thanks! These will be for speakers, and thanks for the tip about using a meter to identify positive vs negative.

Anil

 

[MPS]

I have been using DIY version speaker wires since I made them without any need to swap them for something else.
Funny thing, now that I found these comments, is that my DIY cables happen to be made out of tinned copper wire.
Actually originally the idea was to just put something together from scrap material I had around. Well, the sound of the cables was good enough that a friend of mine requested me to make a pair for him too. Sure I did. Quite easy actually, just cut proper lengths of wire, put them in sleeve and connect proper terminals to the ends.
I believe the wire that I was using is ÖLFLEX® HEAT 205 SC, most likely 4 mm² (25AWG). High quality tinned copper wire with FEP insulation (similar to Teflon).
https://products.lappgroup.com/onli...res/fep-single-cores/oelflex-heat-205-sc.html
Sound wise it's very well balanced, more neutral than many specialist speaker cables. It seems to do everything well and doesn't emphasize anything particular. At least with my Duo XDs it's a very good match and for the price it's absolutely awesome.