Inside The Helix Geometry.

Since its conception, I have been sharing ideas and thoughts with like-minded DIYers about construction techniques and materials. But it was not until recently when I realized that there was aspect of the design I had not really considered.

I had been sharing my thoughts and designs via emails, with like minded DIYer
Yordan and Evgeny of Bulgaria.

In one email, Yordan reported that he and Evgeny had experienced an improvement in sound quality simply by winding the helix in the opposite direction to that initially shown shown on this site, so I decided to investigate.

Putting my photography skills to work I took the following images in an attempt to account for a reason as to why such a noticeable improvement might be experienced, simply by reversing the direction of the Helix winding.


This first image (below) shows the helix being wound in (let’s call it) a clockwise direction.
image[8]

As you can see, the
actual strands of the wire used in the Helix, are crossing the strands in the signal wire at approximately 70 degrees

However - if the helix is wound in the opposite counter clockwise direction (see below), then the angle of the individual strands is much closer to the desired 90 degree angle in order to minimize induced noise even further.

image[12]

Please Note: that before deciding to wind the Helix in a particular direction, you must take into consideration the direction of
the twist of the strands in the actual wire you are using
  • in this case, the strands have been twisted in (let’s call it) a clockwise direction
  • If the wire had a counter clockwise twist - then the helix should be wound in a Clockwise direction to achieve the 90 degree angle.
So Here’s How You Wind It...


This image shows how to wind both the neutral/ground conductors of each and every Helix cable, i.e. provided you are using a wire that has strands twisted in a CLOCKWISE direction as indicated in the images above.


Helix Spiral
  • If the wire used has the strands twisted in the opposite direction, then the Helix should be wound in the opposite direction to that indicated in the above image
The Skeptics Among Us...

This initially included myself, after all, how much of an improvement could this possibly make???

Well, after converting all of my own cables to the counter clockwise twist I was completely surprised to find that the changes were very discernible and contributed to a much improved image and very much improved clarity.

How Anal Do You Wanna Get?

In the images above, I have used the same wire for both live/signal and neutral conductors and as such the twist of the individual strands in both wires is the same. But what if the strands in just ONE wire is twisted in the opposite direction, which direction should the helix be wound in ???

That decision I will leave to the individual. Happy

Personally - I think this level of “detail” is beyond the resolution capabilities of my system, but I felt it should at least be mentioned for those out there that may wish to investigate

Other Observations from Yordan include...

Having had many email conversations with Yordan, he has shared the following observations he experienced, which include:
  1. The cables sound more open when the expandable nylon sleeve i.e. to give the cable a “professional appearance”, is NOT used
  2. The power cables sounded better without spades
    • Personally, on my system I found the spades provided faster dynamics and bass delivery
  1. avoid using heat shrink tubing where it draws the signal and neutral wires closer together
  2. To better isolate the signal (or live) wire use teflon tube - not the expandable sleeve as identified in the web site

NOTE: I have tried a couple of things above, but on my system I did not experience the same observations. But as in Yordan’s case, on your system you could observe improvements by following his tips. so give them a try

So, the Proof of the Pudding...

So, to put Yordan’s
“Helix direction” findings to the test, I rebuilt built all of my Helix cables, this time with the Helix neutral wound in a counter clockwise direction. with everything else being identical.

Right from the very first track it was apparent that the direction of the helix REALLY DOES MATTER!

The image was larger in all dimensions, with the location of musicians being more precise and with more space around them, details and associated clarity improved, dynamic performance was faster, bass performance was faster with more texture and the mid and upper frequencies revealed a new warmth not previously there.

But Was It Easily Discern-able?

To these old ears -
very definitely. I spent over two hours playing the tracks I use to audition cables and components, just so I could hear how much better they sounded with the revised Helix cables.

So there you have it - taking into account the actual direction of the Helix winding has proven beneficial

What if I have already used a Clockwise Helix???

If you would like to correct a cable that has a Clockwise wound helix...
  • DO NOT simply pull the Helix coil straight - this will over-twist the strands inside the wire
  • Remove the Helix coil from the cable i.e. slide the coil off of the live/signal conductor intact
  • Then slide the helix coil onto a suitably sized steel/fibreglass rod - NOTE: you will probably need to compress the coil
  • Finally, pull on one end of the coil, allowing the coil to spin around on the rod
  • this technique prevents the twisted strands inside the wire from becoming deformed
  • You can then rewind the helix in the correct direction without any issues
  • The important thing is that you “UNWIND” the helix coil
  • Otherwise: it may deform the strands inside the wire, which will impact performance
  • NOTE: - power cables are not as sensitive as Speaker cables and interconnects and changing the direction of the Helix does not offer any real discernible improvements in sound quality, so changing their helix direction is not necessary

I have performed this procedure several times and can report that it is actually very easy and a much more effective method than trying to simply straighten a helix coil.

Is all this really necessary?

Well, the choice is yours. The Helix cables will sound extremely good no matter what direction the Helix coil is wound in!

But the improvements achieved on all of my cables by winding the helix in the correct (counter clockwise) direction is the icing on the cake.

Regards - Steve