Helix Dome MT

These speakers have taken my DIY speaker building journey to a new level. The assembly was simple using the flat pack (highly recommended). Building the crossover network was also simple using the optional PCB board (highly recommended). I chose to veneer mine. That is what turned out to be the most time consuming part of the build. I used the large gold binding posts on mine (highly recommended). The boxes were very well packed. Nothing was damaged in the shipping.

I do not review audio equipment for a living but I do trust my ears. These speakers excel at all the types of music I enjoy (classic rock, jazz, classical, bluegrass). I played a track for my wife and she said said it sounded like the musicians were in the room. That is high praise indeed. She also thinks they are beautiful with the veneer. The high wife approval factor is a huge plus. The highs exceeded what I was expecting. They are very smooth and detailed. The woofer does an exceptional job reproducing bass. The cast frame is impressive. I may hook up a sub-woofer in the future, but do not feel the need right now. Not sure how much sound will change with break-in. These sound convincingly like real music. I find myself listening to the music and not the equipment. They sound great even at low listening levels. Drums and percussion instruments sound really great. They will not make poor recordings sound good, but they do make good recordings come alive. Find myself tapping my feet to the music quite often.

Jeff Bagby did an excellent job designing these. Seems like everything Jeff designed worked well.

These are the nicest speakers I have had to date. Not sure what factory built speakers these would compare to. Building a pair of these would be a great father-son project.

I purchased this kit several weeks ago when they became available again. The wait was worth it. They were relatively easy to put together. This is my first DIY kit and I made a few mistakes here and there building the crossover. Erich was very supportive and worked me through my mistakes. However, I completed them and they sound absolutely fabulous to me. They replaced some old Klipsch bookshelf speakers that I've had for about 20 years that were actually my rear speakers in my main system. They use more power than the Klipsch, however, they actually sound much, much better and made some old recording sound great. This is an absolutely great sounding pair of speakers. I have always preferred horn-loaded speakers however, these speakers have changed my mind. Great product Erich.

My son and I built Jeff's Fusion 8 Alchemy years ago and he is still using them in his home theater. When he asked for bookshelf monitors for his bedroom I immediately thought of the Helix Dome MT.

The speaker parts plus flat packs arrived well packed as before. We had some time around the Holidays and were able to complete the build. Of note, while the included crossover parts are very good quality we decided to go all out and upgrade them. We substituted the iron core with air core inductors, upgraded capacitors with Sonicaps and Jantzen and used Mills resistors. Isn't that what makes DIY so appealing?

Here is a build thread on AC: https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=184363.msg1935030#new

The final outcome is great sounding speakers and my son seems very happy.

I've always liked the overall sound signature Jeff Bagby designs into his speakers and have built 4 of his models over the past 6 years. I built his newer Continuums last year because they're a well regarded model and just wanted to give them a try. They do sound good when played with a 12" subwoofer in my living room. But the Helix easily tops the Continuum for overall sound quality and quite simply takes things to another level. Bigger presence, fuller sound, incredibly smooth high end, powerful bass, etc, etc, etc. I've had no need to integrate a subwoofer with these because they have great bass response.

I agree with the other reviews about the woofer. The bass is tight and they've handled everything I've pushed through them in the past 6 months. Thoroughly enjoyed this build and the results.

1st time building speakers.. the kit makes it a breeze. I got my 16 year old the help me do some of the soldering and that was fun. I was mostly worried about the soldering but honestly they are big solder points and it makes it pretty easy. The build turned out to go much easier and quicker than I expected.

Aside from my HT speakers which are klipsch reference... L&R are klipsch R-26F, which I will change to DIY soon, I don't have too much to compare too. I haven't done a ton of music listening on those. The Klipsch are driven on a Denon AVRX1200W (80w/ch). The Helix are driven on a 2235 marantz (35w/ch). I actually got the marantz in the same day I finished the speaker build (so that turned out to be good timing).

I can tell you that you can turn both of them up and either of them will fill the entire house (2,300 SF) with loud music and be heard outside on the front and back porch clearly.
The Helix speakers seem fuller though. They are loud and pleasant to listen to while the Klipsch are loud but nearly as pleasant sounding. Not sure how to describe it. One way would be if I turn the klipsch up real loud, they feel loud. With the Helix playing loud they sound great and you don't realize how loud you are listening to them until you go outside. The sound is just better.

Previously I had the turn table hooked up to a soundbar/sub package and obviously there is no comparison there.

I can also say that ( I'm not sure how much of this is the sound stage created by the old marantz or the speakers (probably a combination of both)) the sound stage they create are amazing. I put a Janis Joplin record on, specifically the song Summertime... The clarity and the sound stage of the song blew my mind... one guitar being clearly heard from the right speaker while another guitar comes in on the left speaker... and the detail, I heard things I hadn't before... I swear in between the 1st guitar players picking I actually heard the very light scraping sound of him resting his pick on the strings (i play guitar but i had never heard that in the song before). Back to the sound stage......it straight up sounded like Janis was singing from a center channel. The music was coming from the left and right speakers and her voice was coming from in between them. I put my wife in front of the speakers without saying anything other than "come listen to this" and the first words out of her mouth were "it sounds like her voice is coming from the middle."
I put a Lorde record on and the bass sounded great. Didn't realize how much was in that record. It sounds nice and clean without being boomy.

anyway...thats my 2cents I would highly recommend

I was hesitant about buying DIY speakers because of the inability to listen to them before purchasing. But, with the reviews of some AVSForum users saying "the Helix Domes could have been playing blindly in one of the hotel rooms with $5,000 bookshelves next to them, and you would not have discerned any difference. Great speakers." I was convinced to pull the trigger. And besides, with my original budget of $1,000 per pair, these seemed cheap. Plus, these come with an available MDF flat pack and an MTM design that can be used horizontally for a center channel, both of which were huge pluses for me.

These Helix Dome MTs blew me away. They bring me joy every time I listen to them. From orchestral to electronic, to choral, to pop, to rock, to hip hop, these speakers are a delight. The soundstage is wide and precise. I can hear and place different cellists in a chamber orchestra. I can listen to an electronic piece and be blown away by the tactile accuracy. Voices come through naturally.

The tweeter really is special. I am sensitive to bright treble but the sound is simply natural and precise, delicate and effortless. The bass of the woofer down to 40Hz is impressive added on top of its stellar sound quality.

Can't wait to build the MTM version to flesh out my HT front soundstage. Thanks to Jeff for an amazing speaker and to Erich for his help in the assembly process.

These came out great. This was my first speaker build and I went a bit overboard (see 'Helix Dome speaker build' over at diyaudio - https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/multi-way/331949-helix-dome-speaker-build.html). The kit components were all very high quality and Erich was very helpful with a couple of questions I had along the way. Sound quality is excellent.

Make sure to purchase the available crossover PCBs also - they're quite inexpensive and the crossovers will come out a lot nicer than trying to build them on a breadboard.

Earlier This month I purchased a new Helix dome MT kit from DIY Sound Group. As always the packing was more than up to the task of protecting the drivers and the CNC MDF baffles. I will warn that you need to be prepared for a box well stuffed with packing peanuts or similar. Fresh out of box, the mid-woofers had a very classy and stout cast frame. The SB29ASDAC tweeters were very impressive and had a very substantial and handsome aluminum face plate. Both sets of drivers were a step above what I had used in the other kit builds I have had to date. Granted they were quite a jump in price as well.

For now I am powering them with my old trusty A450 amp in the bedroom. I am very happy with these speakers. They have a very smooth sound to my ears. Specs list a range of 40hz-20khz at 88db 2.83v/1m. The bass is very clean and nice. More than enough for the mix of music I enjoy without a sub. A pretty wide mix, classic rock, R&B, jazz, bluegrass, even the occasional disco song. Gangster rap (I will listen to some hip hop) and Nashville machine country are about the only exclusions. The tweeters are very pleasing not overpowering. I won't try to use esoteric terms I can't really quantify. For imaging and sound stage, I can separate the instruments and their placement in nice recordings. The sound feels bigger than the placement of the speakers but my room is FAR from ideal and I haven't spent a lot of time yet getting them where I want them.

A friend wanted to hear them so I took them over to his house for a test run. He was surprised and quite pleased with them as well. He said he would be happy to run them in his living room. It's an apples and oranges comparison but they held their own against his B&W's. I found the big 3 ways overly bright but they definitely were more at ease filling the room with sound. For my ears and uses, I much prefer the Helix.

Decided on a gift build for one of my best friends. He loves music and so that was my primary goal in the speaker selection. I also knew that for his space, simplicity and bookshelf style were needed. After soliciting advice from Erich, I settled on the Helix Dome. Jeff is apparently a huge fan of the dome in this design, so my first ribbon build will have to wait.

I've built packs from Erich before, and this one was no exception. The flat pack was so tight it almost held itself together. A little paint and wax and quick crossover assembly was a breeze.

Listening:. I cannot believe how strong the 7" woofers are. Just testing them in the dining room fills the room with a beautiful sound and appreciable bass in the lower registers. The dome is perfectly smooth and never piercing. My test song of choice is ID by Kygo, and it's a pleasure hearing it played through amazing speakers. I am running them with an Emotiva A100 amp.

Jeff and Erich hit it out of the park on this one. Way to go guys.