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Geshelli Archel2 Headphone AMP Review: another champ?

trl

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Some close-up pics might help, although if you really want to take pics and do some in-depth tech review with components detailing, maybe a new thread would be better, because I'm not aware of a dedicated thread for the new Archel 2.5.

L.E.: If you own both 2 and 2.5 versions, it would be even better.
 

carter

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I'm looking at getting into headphone amps and the Archel2 looks great. I currently use a Sennheiser GSX 1000 DAC/amp with Drop+Sennheiser HD 58X Jubilee cans.

Would there be any point using the Archel2 after the GSX 1000 (i.e double amped) given that the 58X are 150ohm and are already "loud enough", or would I need another DAC to get a significantly better experience with the Archel2? I was hoping that adding the Archel2 might give me a little extra something something in my music listening experience without having to buy "another" DAC, but having little knowledge and having not listened to other headphone amps I'm not sure how naive that hope is :) Any advice much appreciated!
 

solderdude

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These dcdcs are rated at 2w but 75mv p-p so there must be some tighter analog regulators in there that i can’t see.

most likely just some inductors and 100uF capacitors which is enough to loose the (HF) ripple.
Surprised they didn't use 2x pcn2-s12-d15 and made separate power supplies for both channels.
Would mean double the inductors and capacitors though.
 
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mkawa

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The xlr jacks take up a lot of space on board and all the internal rails are being derived from a single 12vdc. I would be pretty surprised if that made a measurable difference with an opa165x
 

jailbird

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Unless you need the money or prefer the looks of the Geshelli why not just use the 887 ?

True. I was hoping to use the difference in price to pay for a new DAC, but in the end I went for the best choice: I bought both! :)
 

trl

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I guess we're kind of assuming that the ARCHEL2.5 PRO Amp measures the same as the one reviewed here?
At least based on manufacturer's specs it seems that the only change was regarding the max. output power @ low impedance, so we should assume that the performance got unchanged.
 

trl

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These dcdcs are rated at 2w but 75mv p-p so there must be some tighter analog regulators in there that i can’t see.
Taken from the datasheet: "Ripple and noise are measured at 20 MHz BW by “parallel cable” method with 1 μF ceramic and 10 μF electrolytic capacitors on the output". So, I guess that below 100KHz bandwidth the ripple & noise get even better, although we should probably care most about the RMS value instead of peak one (probably lower than 20mV RMS below 100KHz under full load).
 

EVOLVIST

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At least based on manufacturer's specs it seems that the only change was regarding the max. output power @ low impedance, so we should assume that the performance got unchanged.

I get my 2.5 tomorrow, so I'm geeked! I listen with speakers mostly, but when I want the headphone experience, I'm looking to round out my gear and call it a day. I'm hoping this will be the missing link I've been searching for.
 

DuxServit

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I'm looking at getting into headphone amps and the Archel2 looks great. I currently use a Sennheiser GSX 1000 DAC/amp with Drop+Sennheiser HD 58X Jubilee cans.

Would there be any point using the Archel2 after the GSX 1000 (i.e double amped) given that the 58X are 150ohm and are already "loud enough", or would I need another DAC to get a significantly better experience with the Archel2? I was hoping that adding the Archel2 might give me a little extra something something in my music listening experience without having to buy "another" DAC, but having little knowledge and having not listened to other headphone amps I'm not sure how naive that hope is :) Any advice much appreciated!

If the GSX has 3.5-mm line-out, then maybe it could feed into the Archel2 (and you won’t need a second DAC).
 

pglee

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I've been listening to my Archel 2.0 and comparing it to Massdrop Objective 2 amp. The Objective 2 sounds like it has more gain and brings out the low level signals a bit more almost like a compressor. The Archel sounds basically like the sound coming straight from line level with a very transparent volume knob. You have to crank up the volume to get some bass weight. For headphone listening, I'm sticking with the Objective 2 and plan to use the Archel as a preamp in another setup because it's so transparent.
 
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Blur

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Received my 2.5 this week. Love it. Sound is awesome. Works with sensitive IEM's and hard to drive planners like the Aeon Flow Open. This amp is super quiet and delivers some serious power. I enjoy the LED's, but really appreciate the ability to run everything from the front panel.

If you are in the market for a new amp this is pretty much end game.

If I had to choose between this and either the SP200 or Schiit Heresy I would go with this every time. It has a quieter background, delivers more power than the Heresy, and has the ease of front panel access and LED lighting. I should mention that if you want uber power go with the SP200.

Hope it measures well.
 
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headwhacker

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I've been listening to my Archel 2.0 and comparing it to Massdrop Objective 2 amp. The Objective 2 sounds like it has more gain and brings out the low level signals a bit more almost like a compressor. The Archel sounds basically like the sound coming straight from line level with a very transparent volume knob. You have to crank up the volume to get some bass weight. For headphone listening, I'm sticking with the Objective 2 and plan to use the Archel as a preamp in another setup because it's so transparent.
The default gain for O2 is 2.5X and 6.5X. The output voltage remain the same(7V). Having more Gain is irrelevant if the max output volume is the same. It is actually bad because it means, you can easily drive the amp into clipping and channel imbalance at their worse.

Most people clip the resistor to change the 6.5x gain to unity, or have custom gains which the higher gain is only 3.3X.
 

trl

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jplunkettj

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I got the Archel 2 Pro for christmas and it works great! The only drawback i see is the lack of preamp outputs like the Magni has. Now I need to figure out how to hookup my desktop speakers.
 

netcipher

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Any inside pics, maybe? Thanks! :)
Geshelli Archel2.5 pro
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netcipher

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Geshelli Archel2.5 pro

XLR -> OPA1656 (balanced to unbalanced) -> relay (NEC EE2-3TNU) -> OPA1656 + LMH6321MR + gain switch (NEC EE2-3TNU) -> TRS

RCA -> relay (NEC EE2-3TNU) -> OPA1656 + LMH6321MR + gain switch (NEC EE2-3TNU) -> TRS
 

mkawa

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interesting!! an inexpensive but clearly quite capable gain stage followed by some serious (like 10% of BOM!) buffers.

thanks for the pics!!
 

EVOLVIST

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I have no idea what this shit mean. :) What's the secret sauce and why isn't everybody doing it to achieve almost distortion-free results?
 
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