HELIUS DESIGNS: in conversation with Howard Popeck – part two

Geoffrey ….. When it comes to listening to what you’ve designed, do you worry that you can find yourself liking something which is actually wrong? How do you keep yourself on track? In the context of tonearms it’s difficult to imagine what I could do to make it sound ‘wrong’. This part of the system […]

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HELIUS: Howard Popeck speaks at length to people with interesting things to say: Geoffrey Owen, main-man at Helius Designs

Hello Geoff, and thank you agreeing to be interviewed about social media in our shrinking audiophile world. So …. my first question; what’s your perception of the importance or irrelevance of Facebook in reaching out to potential audiophile buyers? Ah. Hmm. Howard, I suspect that you’re interviewing the wrong person. When I started writing novels […]

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HELIUS DESIGNS: Magic Pebbles, an explanation of tonearm bias and …

In my first article, I wrote about those wizened beings who occasionally materialise from the ether, intent on stretching the boundaries of plausibility with their over-active imaginations. These people would have us believe that a generous sprinkling of their particular flavour of fairy dust on your hi-fi will transport it to the realms of godliness. […]

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HELIUS: Their new Viridia turntable does well at the Newport show

From our archives Robert Harley (The Absolute Sound) writes …. British turntable and tonearm maker Helius Designs added a second turntable to its line, the upscale Viridia. Based on the company’s Alexia ‘table, the Viridia features the same double-wishbone suspension but adds a magnetic bearing, new platter mat and clamp, magnetically suspended motor, and a […]

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HELIUS DESIGNS: Geoffrey Owen, founder, owner and senior design engineer writes about the 1983 Orion tone arm

The trouble with being an engineer is that one is born with a natural tendency to look at the world through critical eyes and consider how differently you might have designed the things around you had been have been given the job. But then, if ever you feel inclined to prompt such a discussion, most […]

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AUDIO INSIDER

TONE ARM EFFECTIVE MASS: A cogent, scientifically based and rational explanation

Howard Popeck asked Geoffrey Owen, the driving force behind Helius Designs if he could and indeed would find the time to explain the reality behind effective mass and – in so doing – confound the misinformation, disinformation and scientific ignorance that clouds so many discussions of this topic. As an aside and somewhat mischievously, Howard […]

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HELIUS DESIGNS: In conversation with Howard Popeck – part three

Geoffrey – what is your response to the statement ‘How many channels do you think it takes to make a music listener happy; One. Mono’s fine. I’ve never heard anybody bitch about Louis Armstrong, saying, “I would enjoy it if it were only stereo” Now this question is interesting from several perspectives and I’m going […]

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HELIUS DESIGNS: Their Omega Silver Ruby tone arm

They say: The Silver-Ruby Omega is the high-performance version of the standard model and is differentiated  from its sibling by being the chromatic negative of the standard version; instead of being a black arm with a silver counterweight, the Silver-Ruby model is silver with a black weight. This aesthetic rule is not strictly enforced, customers […]

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HELIUS DESIGNS: Servicing their tone arms; the policy defined

They say: Helius has produced over 15 different models of tonearm over the last 23 years and still regularly services all models, regardless of age and condition.   Where parts are missing we can usually make replacements A standard service involves stripping down the arm, cleaning, checking and re-polishing bearing needles and cups, reworking solder joints, […]

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HELIUS DESIGNS: Their Omega Standard tone arm

They say: The standard version of the Omega is mechanically very similar to the Silver-Ruby Model. The main differences being the use of tungsten bearings, copper wire and colour configuration. The standard version is anodised black with silver counterweights. Technically the arm is very sophisticated, being dynamically balanced, damped by differential masses and having non-coincident […]

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HELIUS DESIGNS: Their tone arm trade-in policy defined

They say: Occasionally, Helius will acquire some of its past products. There are primarily two reasons, the first is to maintain a stock of older parts for purposes of repairing the classic tonearms. We do this because it is uneconomical in today’s CNC machnining environment to have small numbers of the larger components machined, so […]

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HELIUS DESIGNS: Their tone arm upgrade policy defined

They say: Upgrades can be divided into two arenas, electrical and mechanical.  The most popular upgrade is to the wiring and cables. The standard internal wire is copper, so the first upgrade we offer is to change this to single strand silver. The wire is 0.25mm in diameter with both channels being twisted into pairs. […]

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HELIUS DESIGNS: in conversation with Howard Popeck – part one

Geoffrey ….. why is there such diversity between audiophile values and the audio engineering establishment’s values? I’m not sure there is – indeed, I would argue that, more often than not, audio engineers are just audiophiles who have taken their interest to the next level and gone pro. Perhaps I should start by suggesting that […]

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HELIUS DESIGNS: VTA – “As a starting point, when people refer to Vertical Tracking Angle, VTA -they usually mean Stylus Rake Angle, SRA – in other words, the perpendicularity of the stylus with respect to the groove”

Geoffrey Owen: Somewhat like Terry Wogan and his listener, I feel my first article secured one noble reader. My hope now is to double that number in this follow-up. In my last piece, I suggested the audio industry was populated by three distinct stereotypes, these being gods, gurus and mystics; the first two I’ve covered […]

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