🔷 Geshelli Erish

Dayyyum! That new new… What that cost?

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~$190 new I think. I got preorder pricing or something so I got it for ~$170.

Initial impression? Worth more than that. Then again, my experience is limited.

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Last one. It’s sunday, I’m bored, here’s a review of a recent piece of kit. Only 3 days, but it seems to have a very distinctive easy to understand sound sig. Feel like I have a handle on it.

How I tested the Erish:
Played it via just my Enog2 (to prevent any mixup with DAC sound sig (and cause I don’t have my Bifrost 2 yet lol)). Spent a day with it and the Elegias. Spent a day with it and the Eikons. Spent a couple hours with it and the PM-50s. Didn’t A/B with the Monolith Liquid Platinum because pulling the XLRs out of the back of those is a pain in the ass. A/B’d with the Archel for a few hours. Mostly just skipped around through all my playlists. Mostly used Tidal and Spotify. Pick a genre (excepting thrash / metal) and I listened to it with these. Have had my hands on these for 3 days.

Erish General Sound Sig :
So, with the understanding that I’ve had this for 3 days and my experience is limited to Magni Heresy, Monolith LP, and Geshelli Archel, I really like the sound signature this provides a lot. It is very analytical, slightly airy, and a slight bass hump all the way to the sub bass. This gives it a fantastic synergy with lo-fi hiphop type music as well as more upbeat electronic and modern stuff. Acoustic still sounds good, but lacks the warm intimacy / realism you’d look for to get the most enjoyment out of the music imo. Outside of the slight bass elevation, the mids and treble are dead flat to my ears. Zero distortion or any audible buttfuckery. I would call this amp bright and lively while still being extraordinarily analytical.

Pros :

  • Accurate and crisp. Feels like the sound is just sharper overall than my Liquid Platinum and my Archel. Marginally so over the LP, much more so than the Archel.
  • Fully balanced. Does this need an explanation?
  • Ease of use. Buttons are clear, satistfying to press, LEDs are minimal, and volume knob is solid. Very much the same as the Archel on this front. Very much so plug and play.
  • Exact same form factor as the Archel, so they stack very well along with the Enog. Gives you a full stack with 3 sets of cables (one toslink to computer, xlr patch to erish, rca patch to archel) and a balanced + se connection.
  • Slight bass hump. Being even keeled in the treble and mids is great, but that tactful bass elevation really breathes a lot of life into most music. I love it.
  • The synergy with more heavily electronic music and my elegias. I have now separated my desk into Eikon listening gear and Elegia listening gear. Liquid Platinum for my Eikon, which just gives it a sexy natural sound. Erish plus Elegia for the sheer detail, clarity, and precise sound. The slight bass / sub bass bump gives the elegias a really captivating sound.
  • Comes with a fancy shiny Geshelli sticker. Stuck it on my car.
  • Imaging / separation are great. It’s not really depth based, but directionality and layering are fantastic. Brings out the best of the Elegias and gives the Eikons a bit more space between instruments than my MLP does. The soundstage is smaller, but the improvements to layering / imaging make it kinda irrelevant.

Cons :

  • Only XLR inputs, only XLR outputs. For some that is a pro (me), for some it’s a drawback. You’ll need adapters to use this via TRS (but I don’t know why you’d buy it in the first place then lol).
  • Almost too analytical for me tbqh. Not sterile, but very clinical in it’s approach. Does wonders with certain types of music. With some it’s lackluster. Everything feels ultra resolving, especially with my elegias. Even though it’s still enjoyable, still not great for everything.
  • Because of the analytical bent I get distracted easily. It’s also ever so slightly fatiguing for someone used to warmth and natural sounding amps / dacs / headphones. I hear things I haven’t before, I heard sounds coming crystal clear from a very precise direction, and I hear details with a crsipness that really makes them pop. It distracts me from work / writing realllly easily and quite frequently.
  • Channel imbalance below 8:30. It’s annoying, but it’s the same pot as the Archel and it works great besides that.

Would I recommend you buy it? :
Yes. Highly. This amp is a very cheap (comparatively) and excellent sounding intro to the balanced amp world. It has enough power to drive most headphones, it’s form factor is excellent, and it’s dead simple to set up / use. The addition of custom colors for the case, a fantastic sound (imo), and Geshelli’s excellent customer service is just icing on the cake. The fact that it sits on my desk and really does compete with my Liquid Platinum ($500+ amp), in a way that my Archel really doesn’t, really really really really impresses me. If I wasn’t a Geshelli shill before, I am now.

Long story short…

GO BUY IT NOW. I promise you it’s worth it.

Also compares favorably with the Gilmore Lite Mk2. It’s a little more colored than the Gilmore with a little less impact, soundstage, and dynamic range, but other than that it’s on par. Impressive for an amp less than half the msrp.

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So, you bought it just to run it with the LP? Since they are both balanced amps, will you change back and forth depending on the music, or will they be in separate locations?

Still on the fence actually. I think I’m probably going to take it into work with my Enog and use it balanced with the Elegias (great combo). I’ll use my Bifrost 2 (whenever the fuck they ever get shipped reeeeee schiit) and the MLP with my Eikons (and my soon to be Clears) as my home setup (cause so non portable it’s not even funny). That is assuming we ever get back to the office.

For now I just pair the Elegias with the Erish like 95% of the time and the Eikons with the MLP. We’ll see what happens whenever the Bifrost arrives.

If they are in one location it doesn’t depend on the music it depends on the headphone and mood.
^^^^
this says a lot about price to performance for this little guy though. MLP is a well liked and well respected amplifier (for good reason). In my opinion it’s a 50/50 shot at which you like better depending on the headphone and the music you’re listening too primarily. I think owning both is definitely worthwhile. Whereas I think the archel is solidly below them both.

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How’d you get one so early-
?

I know the right people :stuck_out_tongue:

But I just got in on the closed pre-order by emailing them.

Can confirm erish is worth getting.

I emailed them after typing this to you last night

It’s available now on their site. $199.

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https://geshelli.com/shop/ols/products/erish-balanced

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Just to bump the thread. This amp is great for the price. Would highly recommend. Pretty much competes with my MLP and Gilmore on my desk.

Pulled trigger last night

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Purchased this today as well. I tried to see if they could do a 4.4 mm out but it looks like they dont have a reliable source for those jacks. Geno did mention he has had a bunch of requests for them thought. Speaking to Geno and Sherri was great and they are fulfilling a request of mine… my case will be Highland Bronze ( https://www.prismaticpowders.com/gallery/7088/highland-bronze-coated-avant-garde-wheels ) if you like this color i suggest asking for it since they will have some powder extra.

I will be pairing this with a topping dx7 pro, hopefully this will be an upgrade to that dac’s amp and this wont be clean/sterile overkill

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Erish is a sterile/analytical amp, but not overly so. Still retains some of the Geshelli house sound (i.e. natural). It should be fine. Just no THX lol

Also the highland bronze is a sexy goddamn color!

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Still waiting in my balanced DAC to arrive, but wanted to share a picture of my purple box that showed up yesterday :slight_smile:

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A preview.
Unfortunately the bronze may not make it to others. Sherri said it took more coats than expected.

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Can someone tell me what exactly the word is for what these people ordered as their paint job on these?

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Unicorn Sparkle Spectacular - AKA UniPoo

uni poo

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According to their website, 1 watt per channel @ 32ohms. This is the same power output under that load as the JDS Labs Atom (single-ended). Seems a bit underpowered from what balanced amps are typically spec’d.

I noted that too…was hoping to drive some Argon MkIII’s may have to hold onto the SP200