Also, people are saying the liquid spark is more of a “warm” sound… but the frequency response graph is flat as a ruler…
Yeah, its a smoother sounding amp that also has a bit more body and oomph to the bass, also a tad less treble
Because frequency sweeps don’t tell the whole story.
It’s a sweep playing a single pure tone, into a static resistive load.
Music isn’t a pure tone, and headphones aren’t constant resistive loads.
I find the Magni 3 and Archel 2 to be the most transparent. The Spark is fantastic “musical amp” it does color the sound, very, very slightly. It does it in a manner that is not in you face obvious, not like a “V” shaped head phone. It just cleans up the sound that is there.
I notice on songs like black moon rising by the black pumas the Magni 3 actually pushes the male vocals back, its almost like your on the stage and hes further away, Its really clean and noticeable. I thought the magni3 had more thump and it does. It’s just less of a difference than I initially thought. I used a sin wave to volume match all the amps. The Magni 3 sounds better than I’ve been giving it credit. I can sort of get why people say it compresses the music.
The Archel 2 Pro on the same song has the male vocals closer, but I think they sound a little bit cleaner and more resolving if that makes sense. They aren’t in your face shouting, its like really, really good. Almost sparkly compared to the Magni 3. Its like it has that little bit extra in the lower treble region.
The Liquid Spark just does itself. Its more or less what Mon said. The mids seem to have more body and flow. The treble is reduced very slightly when things seem like they would be harsh. It’s a very good amp for casual listening. You really just don’t get any of the negatives that you might with the more transparnt amps.
After listening the to Archel 2 I realize how much more clean treble the spark looses in the upper region, and that’s what leads to the feeling of it being warmer. Its not that it is, but the reduced upper treble makes it feel like it is. Kind of brilliant in a way, you get warmer feeling mids without touching them. Thats problably why the graph is flat.
Of the 3 if I want an amp that I trust will work on most song, any genre, the Liquid spark.
I think my favorite right now, this second is the Geshelli Archel 2. I think it has slightly less imaging compared to the Magni 3… Some that I think that would be done with close A/B testing.
Listening to Chemical Brothers Go, the vocals at 1:03 sound more refined and natural on the Archel 2 Pro, More compressed on the Magni 3.
2 Likes
I feel like buying one just to have a pretty purple glow when the lights are out listening to my music 
1 Like
Yeah I definitely didn’t need it, just like the look and I like supporting US companies and the purple is a nice touch haah
How do you like it compared to the JDS
I gotta come up with a quicker way to switch between the two of them to really be able to comment on that.
So far, high gain can blow your headphones up. Low gain I was at about 12 o clock on the volume, high gain I could barely get to 9 to match the volume. Live the simplicity of it just like the JDS. Love the look and size.
Is that emotiva powering some speakers? If so, which and how does it sound?
Yes it is currently powering jbl studio 530s, previously was powering micca rb42s. I love that amp. One of those things I will never sell.
1 Like
Since there’s no thread specifically for the Archel 2.5 figured I’d post this here. If you are considering the Archel 2.5 pro and you are wondering about power, these pictures show where I have my volume for my normal listening level, on fostex t60rp, and also the maximum on the volume knob. As you can see, it powers the t60rp absolutely no problem what so ever.
This is on high gain. Honestly, I didn’t even try them on low gain, but I’m pretty sure high gain may not even be necessary here.
Also, I should add that it does all of this with zero heat somehow. The thing isn’t even warm. I don’t understand, but I love it.
Oh wow, I got it all wrong.
Hopefully, mine comes in soon. I have to finish up the Magni review, but I think the 2.5 could be the sub $200 amp to beat
I’d agree. It’s gonna be my new daily driver amp for sure. It’s not perfect. I do have a few complaints but they are very minimal, and more importantly not related to sound.
1 Like
getting one with the exact same case and glass as yours. How does it compare to the jds atom in terms of sound? Also what are the complaints?
Just to add on in 2020, just got my Geshelli stack. Archel 2.5 pro amplifier + Enog 2 Pro DAC is absolutely killer. Running them balanced with Sundaras, DT 990/770s 250 Ohms, and HE-4xx’s. Full and ever so slightly round sound, but less compressed than the Heresy and Hel I have.
I won’t seriously compare this to the Heresy in detail (since mine was apparently a defective unit). However, with a grain of salt, even while sounding slightly less analytical, it brings a lot of great life to the music. Also seems like imaging / soundstage magically got better. Might just be my bad schiit box, but I am absolutely blown away. It is just a pleasure to listen to the Geshelli stack. For reference, I’m listening to the Fiddler on the Roof soundtrack and dancing along at full blast with the Sundaras. It sounds like I’m on stage / set with the imaging, stage, and quality of sound. Even when the recording gets a bit messy, it pulls as much as it can out of it. Love it.
The best way to describe the difference. Is that the Heresy makes me analyze all the tracks / instruments together, whereas the Archel feels like it’s pushing whatever instrument the artist wanted to push forwards (without losing the detail in the back in any real way). Probably just my take though.
When I get my fixed Heresy back I’ll try to provide more details.
Would heartily reccommend this setup in 2020.
2 Likes
Yeah, both are great amps for sure. Keep us posted when you get the Heresy back.
2 Likes
I have a Geshelli Archel 2.5 Pro and it is the best amp I have used.
Plenty of power, black background and no CH imbalance that I can detect.
I run it with a Khadas tone board, Mogami cables and Audioquest Nightowl Carbons
2 Likes