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Duelund DCA16GA & Soft Annealed Silver Foil & Silk Interconnects on the WRSE's

11-20-2016 | By Jeff Day |

I've found it's always a good idea to try out equipment or cables with a range of other equipment to get an idea of how versatile it is in different systems.

Duelund DCA16GA tinned-copper wire.

Duelund DCA16GA tinned-copper wire.

I've had really good success with the Duelund DCA16GA as speaker cables across a variety of very different loudspeakers, like my vintage Altec-Lansing A5 Voice of the Theatre's, Tannoy Westminster Royal SE's, and Harbeth Super HL5's.

The Duelund DCA16GA premium tinned-copper 'vintage tone' cable, wrapped in its oil-soaked & baked cotton dielectric, is notable for its extremely vivid tone color, superb dynamic response, melodic sophistication, harmonic complexity, live-like timbral complexity, spooky imaging presence, natural live-like level of resolution, generous portrayal of soundstage & soundspace, a presentation so breathtakingly musical, and with such high level of intensity of emotional engagement, makes for the finest speaker cables that I have ever experienced in my systems, bar none. As a bonus it's extremely affordable, and you can get it in North America at Parts ConneXion for only $9.99 USD/meter ($3.33/foot).

I've also had many reports from the field (i.e. you) that the DCA16GA works well across a very wide variety of loudspeakers, and I really appreciate that feedback from you.

The Tannoy WRSE's with Duelund DCA16GA.

The Tannoy WRSE's with Duelund DCA16GA speaker cables and interconnects.

Vintage Altec Lansing A5 Voice of the Theatre Loudspeakers.

Vintage Altec Lansing A5 Voice of the Theatre Loudspeakers.

Harbeth Super HL5 with Duelund DCA16GA.

Harbeth Super HL5 with Duelund DCA16GA.

I've found the Duelund DCA16GA as interconnects to be a little more application specific.

Duelund DCA16GA

Duelund DCA16GA interconnects with Duelund Gold RCA's.

The Duelund DCA16GA interconnects are a brilliant match to my vintage Altec-Lansing A5 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers, bringing those same wonderful traits they do as speaker cables to the game, and intensifying the music listening experience in a very positive way.

However, when I put my Tannoy Westminster Royal SE loudspeakers back into the system, the Duelund DCA16GA interconnects were too much of a good thing, being too vivid and forward, so out they came, and in went the Duelund Soft Annealed Silver Foil & Silk (hereinafter referred to as Duelund SASFS).

Duelund solid silver foil / ribbon IC's with Duelund Rhodium RCA's.

Duelund SASFS IC's with Duelund Rhodium RCA's.

The more laid-back Duelund SASFS interconnects that Chris at Parts ConneXion made for me to try were a much better match to the fussier Westminster's metal high-frequency horn, calming things down nicely & musically.

Duelund CAST crossover for the Tannoy Westminster Royal SE loudspeaker.

Duelund CAST crossover for the Tannoy Westminster Royal SE loudspeaker.

Taking some of my lessons learned from building & voicing the Altec-Lansing A5 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers' crossovers, I thought I'd experiment a little, and applied some judicious adjustments to the very adjustable Duelund CAST crossovers.

At Pete Riggle's suggestion, I had installed L-pads into my Altec A5's crossovers, which made a huge difference in getting the high-frequencies to integrate properly with the low-frequencies.

While my Duelund CAST crossovers for the Westminster Royal's don't have L-pads in them, they do have Duelund CAST autotransformers, which can perform a similar function by shelving down (or up) the treble energy in 1.5 dB steps, duplicating the function diagramed on the left of the Westminster's front panel level adjustments.

WRSE front panel diagram of treble energy and treble roll-off adjustments.

WRSE front panel diagram of treble energy and treble roll-off adjustments.

The Altec A5's don't extend in the highs as far as the Tannoy Westminster's do, and I wondered what approximating their treble response in the Westminster's  would do.

The Duelund CAST autotransformers in the WRSE's crossovers have a second function, where they can roll off the treble response as frequency increases by 2dB, 4dB, or 6dB, duplicating the function on the right of the Westminster's front panel level adjustments.

I set the Duelund CAST crossovers' treble energy shelving at -3dB, the treble roll-off at -4dB, and sat down for a listen.

The Westminster's treble now sounded more laid back, more similar to Altec A5's treble presentation, and the Duelund SASFS interconnects now sounded too laid back on the West's, just as they had on the Altec A5's.

So out came the Duelund SASFS interconnects, back in went the Duelund DCA16GA interconnects, and voilà, the music unfolded beautifully with all the vividness, color, beat prowess, and emotional impact that I have come to expect from the Duelund DCA16GA!

Duelund soft anealled

Duelund SASFS interconnects on the Intact Audio dual-mono step-up transformers.

I still have some crossover fine-tuning I want to try, and I now want to try the shielded Duelund DCA16GA interconnects on my Intact Audio dual-mono step-up transformers to see what happens.

While it is too early to offer final impressions, I'm really loving what I'm hearing from my Analogue Productions 45 RPM test pressing of Charlie Byrd's Byrd At The Gate with my revised Duelund CAST crossover settings and the Duelund DCA16GA interconnects.

Here's what I heard with the 'flat' Duelund CAST crossover settings and Duelund SASFS interconnects, versus the revised Duelund CAST crossover settings and the Duelund DCA16GA interconnects:

The more laid-back Duelund SASFS interconnects are a nice match to the 'flat' Duelund CAST crossover settings, which can be a bit on the fussy side, and gave a smooth, rich, detailed, and natural presentation that I really liked.

The spicier Duelund DCA16GA interconnects are a beautiful match to my revised 'toned down' Duelund CAST crossover settings, demonstrating all the vividness, color, beat prowess, and emotional impact that these 'vintage tone' tinned-copper cables are known for.

It's no contest for me, I like the Duelund DCA16GA interconnects with my revised crossover settings far better than the Duelund SASFS interconnects with the original 'flat' settings. The DCA16GA makes the music burst into effervescent life, with the soundspace & soundstage opening way up; tempos, melodies, and beat are irrepressibly stimulating; micro- and macro-dynamics are more life-like, and you get a greater sense of the 'touch' and artistry of musicians playing their instruments.

Don't get me wrong here, the Duelund SASFS' are mighty fine interconnects, and will shine in the right application, particularly if your system is sounding bright & forward.

However, my tastes run more towards the significant charms of the 'vintage tone' tinned-copper interconnects with their vivid and stimulating presentation.

As a fan of the 'vintage tone' sound, it makes me particularly excited to try the new Duelund Coherent Audio DCA20GA wire as interconnects, with that familiar multi-stranded tinned-copper 20AWG conductors as found in the Belden 8402 microphone cable interconnects, but instead wrapped in a shield-free oil-soaked & baked cotton dielectric.

Stay tuned, and thanks for stopping by!

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