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Geshelli Archel2.5 Pro Review (headphone amplifier)

ferongr

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Yes, plexiglass and LEDs are terrible and no "mature grown adult"(whatever that means) would want them. But show that same person tacky VFD bargraphs and useless VU meters (that do not have proper ballistics, or show anything meaningfull regarding signal levels as pertains to the capabilities of either the input preamps or the output power) and observe as he becomes tha manchild he so loathes.
 
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amirm

amirm

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@amirm who's to say engineer's brains aren't jumbled compared to painters'? ;)
:) Speaking of this, someone missed the point of my joke thinking I was insulting painters. There is this saying that engineers are left brain people (analytical) and creative people are right brain (creative). So I postulated that if you shake someone's brain enough, the two sides can exchange positions!
 

Robbo99999

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The same nerds that just can't get enough of RGB LEDs in their gaming pooders. My 13yo son just bought RGB RAM and an RGB PSU for his his new gaming pooder build, to go with his RGB mouse and Keyboard... :facepalm:

The Geshelli products are just hilarious. No mature grown adult would put them in a HiFi system. Maybe on Billy-Bob's 16yo computer desk, in Mom's dank basement, perhaps. Nasty cheap extrusion, perspex end caps and arguably the most putrid implementation of controls I have ever seen. Just horrible in every respect, and a very, very, marginal step above the CNC perspex boxes all over eBay for "makers" and "hobbyists".

Anyone can put a quality performing line stage in a horrible box. It's not a big ask. Why people would clamour to buy such a hideous thing is beyond me. Buy the Topping, any Topping, for goodness sake. At least they tried.
Hey, it's not that bad, and I'm 44! I think this headphone amp has got a bit of an 80's American look to it (the font certainly, maybe some other parts).
 
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GXAlan

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The look of the unit is based upon their desire to do everything in the USA and to keep costs low. You basically have a Made in the USA product that's priced like a Made in China product.

1) Geshelli Labs uses plexiglass because...
"One thing not many people know is we do other things outside of audio. We have a laser cutting division that has done everything from name tags and signs for a national restaurant and hotel chains, fishing lures and plexiglass for personal protection against COVID-19. "
Geshelli Labs Archel2.5 Pro Review + Interview - Headfonia Reviews

2) This is from their Facebook page. Here's the aluminum as it arrives from their supplier.

1607462204836.png



1607462165016.png
 
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dorirod

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:) Speaking of this, someone missed the point of my joke thinking I was insulting painters. There is this saying that engineers are left brain people (analytical) and creative people are right brain (creative). So I postulated that if you shake someone's brain enough, the two sides can exchange positions!

I thought you were making a joke about house painters, and/or potentially paint shakers :)
 

Lorenzo74

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You are guaranteed to hear what is in the recording, no ifs and buts.

Super clear.
I love how you manage to sintetize in one sentence the meaning of your objective assessment.

Isn’t this what we should always look for?

my Best
L.
 

restorer-john

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:) Speaking of this, someone missed the point of my joke thinking I was insulting painters. There is this saying that engineers are left brain people (analytical) and creative people are right brain (creative). So I postulated that if you shake someone's brain enough, the two sides can exchange positions!

So true. Art class for me was a disaster at high school. I did get an A for a clay model spaceship and a large painted circuit diagram, but failed all the creative stuff.
 

Rottmannash

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Or just buy/specify better pots in the first place. The ones they use are bottom of the barrel.

It's just another case of an otherwise excellent performing product, let down by cost cutting with the part that gets used the most (the volume pot). When will these people learn? :facepalm:

And, excellent review @amirm :)
How difficult would it be to open the enclosure and solder in a better pot? How much would a quality potentiometer cost?
 

Tks

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How difficult would it be to open the enclosure and solder in a better pot? How much would a quality potentiometer cost?

Depending on the type, it can be in the 10's of dollars, or some... hundreds. As for "quality", I don't know what that means. Quality as in "feels" good, lasts long, has lots of volume attenuation range, has good channel matching, or is resistant to things like scratchy noise, or something?

I've yet to see a pot that does it all, and can fit into small enclosures. Those that get close, are comically expensive I'd imagine. I can easily picture the pot costing half as much (if not more) than the device itself, if you want a pot that potentially ticks all the boxes.

Personally? I just want volume control that is reliable, and doesn't have any channel balancing issues for 90% of the volume range (I don't care about the bottom 5% and top 5% of volume control). And if it's a digital encoder, I don't ever want to see misfiring that has volume skips.
 

DuxServit

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The same nerds that just can't get enough of RGB LEDs in their gaming pooders. My 13yo son just bought RGB RAM and an RGB PSU for his his new gaming pooder build, to go with his RGB mouse and Keyboard... :facepalm:

The Geshelli products are just hilarious. No mature grown adult would put them in a HiFi system. Maybe on Billy-Bob's 16yo computer desk, in Mom's dank basement, perhaps. Nasty cheap extrusion, perspex end caps and arguably the most putrid implementation of controls I have ever seen. Just horrible in every respect, and a very, very, marginal step above the CNC perspex boxes all over eBay for "makers" and "hobbyists".

Anyone can put a quality performing line stage in a horrible box. It's not a big ask. Why people would clamour to buy such a hideous thing is beyond me. Buy the Topping, any Topping, for goodness sake. At least they tried.

Perhaps it’s the ”Made in the USA” thing that people like ;)
 

mkawa

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relatively sure that it's an alps rk163.. the archel 2 GMR is an RK163.

it might be possible to jam an rk27 in there, but that's something like a 20$ pot in a < 200$ amplifier. these should be paired with similarly transparent dacs that have lossless volume control (ie, 9038 or better) in which case you just set the pot to half travel and adjust volume on the dac.
 

Celty

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NightlyNurse

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The same nerds that just can't get enough of RGB LEDs in their gaming pooders. My 13yo son just bought RGB RAM and an RGB PSU for his his new gaming pooder build, to go with his RGB mouse and Keyboard... :facepalm:

The Geshelli products are just hilarious. No mature grown adult would put them in a HiFi system. Maybe on Billy-Bob's 16yo computer desk, in Mom's dank basement, perhaps. Nasty cheap extrusion, perspex end caps and arguably the most putrid implementation of controls I have ever seen. Just horrible in every respect, and a very, very, marginal step above the CNC perspex boxes all over eBay for "makers" and "hobbyists".

Anyone can put a quality performing line stage in a horrible box. It's not a big ask. Why people would clamour to buy such a hideous thing is beyond me. Buy the Topping, any Topping, for goodness sake. At least they tried.
And what's so wrong with nerds. We tend to be the ones in management positions, investors, or above. It's the people who shame them that tend to work for us. Speaking from much experience and proud of it.
 

PeteL

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And what's so wrong with nerds. We tend to be the ones in management positions, investors, or above. It's the people who shame them that tend to work for us. Speaking from much experience and proud of it.
Restorer-john comment was a cynical comment, and maybe, even, to some extent, judgemental, but yours was condescending, and I mean not even subtle in no way
 

NightlyNurse

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Restorer-john comment was a cynical comment, and maybe, even, to some extent, judgemental, but yours was condescending, and I mean not even subtle in no way
Honestly I'm not trying to be subtle. One thing I learned in life is that it's ok for people to treat a person bad, belittle, bully, or anything of that nature. The instant the person does anything back to the one who started it and they are the one in the wrong. That is the norm and I don't agree with that way of thinking. Treat people right and they would have no reason to do anything back in the first place.
 

PeteL

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Honestly I'm not trying to be subtle. One thing I learned in life is that it's ok for people to treat a person bad, belittle, bully, or anything of that nature. The instant the person does anything back to the one who started it and they are the one in the wrong. That is the norm and I don't agree with that way of thinking. Treat people right and they would have no reason to do anything back in the first place.
Look, I'm a Nerd too, I am in a leadership role too, yeah maybe, the term Nerd is pejorative, and triggered you, but to me he was making fun of the design of the product in a colorful way and not "treating a person bad" This is a place where products get criticized, but also a place where products get exposure, , and in this case, arguably the performance is good, the industrial design is bland and utilitarian if we want to be nice, and arguably, "from a nerd who just care about electronics", depending from who it come from, and the various diplomacy of the person who comment.. Now, yes especially, from people in management position and considers themselves leaders, and proud of it, considering some position "above", using "work for us" instead of work with us, well, I can't speak from everyone, but I certainly wouldn't work for you. Sorry, on this there is no compromise in my views.
Edit: This will hopefully be my only political comment, but Your comment was political, I come here to talk audio, end yes I think it's ok to be opinionated, but about audio, and audio products. Restorer-John, commented 5000 times, you have 8...
 
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NightlyNurse

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Look, I'm a Nerd too, I am in a leadership role too, yeah maybe, the term Nerd is pejorative, and triggered you, but to me he was making fun of the design of the product in a colorful way and not "treating a person bad" This is a place where products get criticized, but also a place where products get exposure, , and in this case, arguably the performance is good, the industrial design is bland and utilitarian if we want to be nice, and arguably, "from a nerd who just care about electronics", depending from who it come from, and the various diplomacy of the person who comment.. Now, yes especially, from people in management position and considers themselves leaders, and proud of it, considering some position "above", using "work for us" instead of work with us, well, I can't speak from everyone, but I certainly wouldn't work for you. Sorry, on this there is no compromise in my views.
Edit: This will hopefully be my only political comment, but Your comment was political, I come here to talk audio, end yes I think it's ok to be opinionated, but about audio, and audio products. Restorer-John, commented 5000 times, you have 8...
I'm not management anymore. When I'm giving someone a paycheck. They work "for me". Enough said. End of argument and goodbye :)
 
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