Helix Two

That absence of noise is matched by a total adherence to fidelity. That sounds trite as it’s the supposed goal of all things ‘hi-fi’ by definition, but the Helix Two Mk3 shows how rarely that adherence is observed to the ultimate degree. The sound has master-tape levels of control and accuracy. This is coupled to a bold and powerful sense of dynamic range and both a sense of staging and presence, and a wicked sense of rhythm. In short, the turntable is so damn good that its contribution to the sound is tiny, and makes you realise just how much most other turntables contribute… and not in a good way.

It’s like the entire system took a deep breath and calmed down before playing the music. That absence of noise is matched by a total adherence to fidelity. That sounds trite as it’s the supposed goal of all things ‘hi-fi’ by definition, but the Helix Two Mk3 shows how rarely that adherence is observed to the ultimate degree. The sound has master-tape levels of control and accuracy. This is coupled to a bold and powerful sense of dynamic range and both a sense of staging and presence, and a wicked sense of rhythm. In short, the turntable is so damn good that its contribution to the sound is tiny, and makes you realise just how much most other turntables contribute… and not in a good way.

I haven’t been this impressed with a turntable since the Dohmann Helix One Mk3! This gets within a whisker of that top performance in all the right ways. Yes, ‘Two’ is smaller and only takes one arm, but it costs about two thirds the price of ‘One’. “One’ is slightly better than ‘Two’ but unless you are listening side-by-side, you’ll probably never notice. Yes, there is always that ultimate performance from the “one’ that the ‘Two’ might miss under extremely careful listening sessions, but for me at least, the Helix Two Mk3 is the no-fuss sweet spot.

With roots in the fabled Continuum, it has pedigree to ensure greatness. This turntable redefines LP playback, at a 10th of the cost of the dearest. I am astounded.

I’m doing my utmost to resist declaring it ‘the best ever’.

Even though Helix series’ tables have traditionally landed in the higher end of the SRP spectrum in terms of what we lean toward reviewing these days, they are indeed worthy of our aspirational attention as being both performance marvels and, frankly, works of art.

Spoiler alert: First off, the Helix Two MK2 Turntable isn’t just “really good” or merely “outstanding”; it’s a remarkable turntable, a global-level, first-class turntable. And it does all that it does in such a compact footprint that I’m hard-pressed to find a comparison. In my experience, there are only a few turntables that do so many things right without turning into some awful bit of audio sprawl. The Helix Two MK2 should fit in just about any audiophile’s system… So the Helix Two climbs to my very short list of first-rank, top o’ the heap turntables with a single, mighty bound. Mark Dohmann and company deserve very high praise for a turntable that is such an intelligent and well-engineered design.

Mark Dohmann, the brilliant designer at Dohmann Audio, has been known to me for a number of years. He was a key driving force behind Continuum, a legendary turntable brand from years ago, now departed. His Caliburn turntable was generally considered one of the very best… if not the best… LP spinners of its generation… Mark’s work is stellar, and is the foundation of the synergy that emerged with this playback chain.

The Helix Two will keep you listening to music and re-experiencing its elevating pleasures. Mr Dohmann and his team have created yet another Aussie engineering and artistic marvel, further compounding Australia’s rep for awe-inspiring natural and man-made wonders…

It goes even further than what you thought you could expect from a turntable and the fact that it clearly outperforms anything that we have ever listened to until now is a huge surprise.

As with its bigger brother, the Helix 2 turntable has to be heard to be believed. The wide-open world of sound it releases from a vinyl groove is spine-tinglingly staggering.

…although it’s possible (but not provable) that it’s the best deck I’ve ever heard, it is most certainly, hand on heart, the very best turntable I have ever set up, sold, or had in my home.