Customer Feedback

Helix ONE Mk3 / Graviton Ti Dohmann Edition Before Summer I switched from the TWO to the HELIX ONE Mk3 with the idea to later include the new Wilson Benesch Graviton Ti tonearm that Mark Dohmann had just introduced in Munich before visiting me. We had a great time with my new HELIX ONE listening to some records including Spirit of Eden (OG Parlophone PCSD 105 A-1-1-1 / B-1-1-1) our all-time favourite we listen to every time we meet. The difference between the TWO to the ONE are a further drop of the noise floor and more music flowing from the HELIX platform DNA. Just before Christmas Michael Polen from Rhapsody Audio arrived with a flight case from Melbourne. Adding the Graviton Ti Dohmann Edition tonearm to the HELIX ONE results in a complete absence of stress or artefacts, the music flows effortlessly in perfect proportion, with every voice and instrument having its own touchable ambience. At times… completely mesmerising! Coming Spring, Mark and I plan to continue the tradition listening to Spirit of Eden… pretty sure we will again discover new things.

It didn’t take me long to identify the difference the Dohmann clamp makes in my system. On the first side of the 45rpm Analogue Productions UHQR reissue of Kind of Blue, it was as if someone got out a bottle of Windex. With my clamp the record sounded wonderful; with the Dohmann, I realized there had been a background layer of sonic haze that was now gone. I’m pretty sure I heard some things with the Dohmann clamp that had been obscured with the first clamp. Maybe I’m imagining that, but I know for sure that notes emerged from a blacker background and there was no longer any “hash” filling the space between performers/instruments. Like a window cleaned with Windex… That’s the best analogy that comes to mind.

I’ll tell you, there were a few things I played on the 5T/HelixIII/ZYX after you left, that almost had me crap in my pants! One of my calling cards as an audiophile is that because I am a scientist, I love to do single variable experiments. Well, what we just did is exactly that with the MKIII upgrade. The arm, cartridge, tracking weight, and SRA were basically unchanged. Therefore, the only variable that could account for the profound improvement I (we) heard… was the table. The results were definitive and conclusive. The MkIII really is a masterpiece. Congratulations.

I have had a Dohmann Helix one at home now for the last 6 months, originally in mk2 form which has been piece by piece upgraded to an mk3. My latest edition are the mk3 clamp and motor. And frankly I’m astonished. Truly. I have been working in the audio industry for 20 years and selling ultra high end for 10 years. Most of that time I have spent collecting a vast amount of audiophile, test pressing and other superb records. I love the dynamics, naturalness and realism they portray. Something that digital hasn’t been able to capture (at least not in my experience yet). And I thought I knew them well! Ha! How wrong I was! The mk2 player is fantastic. Better than most. However the mk3 player achieved a level of musical reproduction I have always wished for and never thought possible. The main point to take away from this short review is whatever turntable you have, whatever system you have, you need to hear this turntable. If you care about your music you haven’t heard it until you have one of these. The absolute quietness of the background, space and solidity of drums and instruments, naturalness, explosive dynamics. This turntable in mk3 form does what all the absolute best high end does. Gives you more of absolutely everything but in a more natural, more pleasing way. All whilst not changing the character of the music or system. I have played many records now on this player and I have heard new things on every single one, I’ve relived my collection like never before. The emotion of the artist captured absolutely. And I have only talked about the sound! It’s built with the precision of a nuclear submarine. And to add to this Mark’s helpful nature and dedication to his customers. He came personally and did all the upgrades. What a package!! So truly from a music lover who has lived and worked for audio over 2 decades. Never has my music been closer to me. Well done Mark.

During my annual visit at the High End Show in Munich, I always listen as closely as possible to every new Super-Turntable that gets demonstrated to the public. As many of them carry price tags of 200K-500K Euros, it is no surprise that almost all of them sound a lot better than my 7 year old Dohmann Audio Helix One Mk.1. Now, in May 2023, during his attendance at the Munich Show, Mark Doehmann upgraded my Helix One to the current Mk.3 status and I was hoping for a sonic step big enough to significantly lessen my desire for one of those Super-Decks. What I received was the best turntable I’ve ever heard and in every sonic category I can think of. I was shocked! It extracts so much more information, so much more music, from records I thought I knew, it’s unbelievable. Instruments have so much more character, voices sound so much more real, so much more present. The artists musical expression by microscopic variations in their playing is so much clearer now. Even annoyingly bad sounding records are now quite enjoyable, average records now sound like audiophile pressings and the good one’s closer to a live concert than I ever expected to hear in my listening room. I still regularly shake my head in disbelief, whenever I rediscover another record of my collection. And I didn’t have to pay 200K Euros (or more) for it. I didn’t have to buy a new turntable. In fact, I didn’t even have to send my Helix around the Globe and back. This upgrade was the best money I’ve ever spend on my stereo system by far. I cannot thank Mark and his team enough for not only developing and producing this engineering marvel, but for also offering this upgrade to existing customers.

The Helix One Mk3 is not a turntable, it’s a time machine.

Yes! I’m glad it didn’t disappoint. For me it’s about realising all the money and time spent collecting these amazing records and hearing them again like never before. I’ve played maybe 10 so far and every single one has things I’ve never realised were there. Superb! I cannot tell you how pleased I am.

I have been a devotee of this hobby for a decades and I’ve seen it all. I’ve got a very satisfying system and there’s not much that excites me compared to the sound that I have cultivated here. So when friends of mine told me about this Dohmann turntable that they heard at someone’s house, I didn’t pay much attention because people get excited by a lot of new gear but years later you realise it was all a fad. Eventually, I joined them one night and heard it and suffice to say, I was shocked at how it played music. I thought that I had already found my ‘final’ turntable but soon afterwards, I sold it on Audiogon and bought myself a Helix One Mk2. It has re-invigorated my love of vinyl playback and music in general. It is so quiet and revealing that familiar, well known records feel new and interesting, revealing previously unknown detail. Single-handedly the most enjoyable and important component I have ever had in my possession.

I was relatively happy with my sound until I heard a Dohmann Helix Two Mk3. I ordered one and when it took place in my system, it communicated an emotional honesty that I have never heard before or since. A genuine destination product.

When you thought, you already were listening to an absurd level of analog playback Mark Dohmann again surprises you by introducing the HELIX TWO Mk3 upgrades that takes listening to music yet again to a whole new level. The improvements are NOT subtle in literally EVERY analog dimension: space, detail, harmonics, flow, definition, range etc. I instantly noticed the substantially reduced noise floor that teleports you right into the recording in a surreal realistic manner. Mark’s latest tool is the new Mk3 Record Clamp, a highly effective and brilliant piece of engineering that further perfects the new Mk3-package. Mr. Dohmann keeps surprising us and for those of you who haven’t had the opportunity to listen to it yet, please do not be fooled by the little … “Mk3” … as in fact this machine should be called the HELIX THREE or to be biologically correct and maybe even better the DOUBLE HELIX

This is pure music, nothing added, nothing in the way. That’s the biggest compliment that I can give any component.

Hi Dohmann Audio, I was listening to the Analog Productions Clarity Kind of Blue and Black vinyl Dave Brubeck Time Out recently. I could not believe the amount of information your turntable gets off both records. Sat there amazed. Depth and soundstage width/stability is incredible. Speed stability off the charts. Vocals are easier to understand. I could go on, but you know it already. Magnificent achievement. Thanks again.

You answered to my email. I was at a low point due to the lockdowns in my country and the problems with my turntable. Your video showing how to get the lobes to align was incredible. Without your help and patience I would have never got the arm to work. I am sincerely and forever grateful to you for taking the time to help a complete unknown that didn’t even buy the arm from you. God bless you and your family and that your company keeps growing so that you reap the benefits from your work.

At CAF last year I brought a UK A2/B2 Led Zeppelin 2 with me (to compare against a WLP RL which we did Saturday night). I had someone (I forget his name, it was the gentleman from equi=tech) play it in Doug’s room Sunday morning, right before our hallway talk. What I heard blew my mind, there were all these subtle details and nuances I had never heard before. Then we had that long talk which gave me some insight into you and that is what convinced me that I’d be comfortable buying one if I could make the finances work. I heard it again at Doug’s showroom when I picked my table up (I wanted to listen to the Van Den Hul phono stage). I brought a bunch of records with me across several genres and again all that nuance and detail that I had never heard was there. Of course both times it was in the context of Doug’s million dollar system so it’s hard to tell what is doing what. But now I have it in my system and all that nuance and detail is there, along with a larger and MUCH crisper sound stage. I was expecting better. I wasn’t expecting this level of better. “Pretty darn good” is an understatement.