I posted this in Hifiguides this morning and love Geshelli so much that I figured the move was to post here too to reach people that might nit be going to both parties.
The J2 AKM has been in my system longer than any other dac. I love it so much. Bang for the buck it is unmatched to my ears and for me it's all I need, do I want more, of course I do, but for my needs it's perfect. I do have a much more expensive Audio-GD - R7 MK2 dac in my analytical headphone set up that is around 10x the cost of the J2. As to be expected there is a sizable difference in what I hear but it is not 10x better, not even close. Most of this also depends on the headphones I am using and amp I am using. Amp wise I have the AUDIO-GD HE-9 LE amp paired to that R7 MK2 and doing a comparison with the J2AKM set up to that amp there is for sure a difference but to me I feel like it's closer to 4x difference at most. Maybe. Again, what headphones am I listening on, that's the big tell. To be clear, I absolutely do feel like the Audio GD set up I have is completely worth the price. It is incredible. Transcendent at times. I do not think it is over priced, I DO think the J2 is vastly under priced.
I find that I need to remind myself to not forget that the point is to have fun. I have not heard the J2 ESS but I'm curious if I can really tell the difference. I can tell a difference in dacs but it also requires massive price jumps into HIGHLY resolving equipment so in the end we end up paying higher prices for not only the DAC. So to my ears in my desktop and TV system, the J2 really is all I need and I love love love it. We of course want more a lot of the time, that's the game, but need...J2 is awesome.
I have had the J2 set up in my desk top system connected to a LTA MZ2 speaker/headphone amp and as I type this I am watching Netflix Dark on my TV connected to it and it is connected to the Akatika PR102 and GT104 amp. I recently had the Denafrips Pontus II set up for a couple months in my desktop set up and then in my TV set up as well and yes there is a difference, the parts used in the topography of the $1800 Pontus 2 12th edition is for sure going to be different enough to make an audible change from the J2 that I can hear but the question is, is the difference 6x better than the J2 AKM to support the price difference? F&%K no, not even close. Please don't misunderstand me, I AM saying there is a difference but we also need to consider all the parts of our systems and if all the parts a set up to be transparent or revealing enough to show all the differences. Essentially, are we trying to put a Porche engine in a Honda Civic. Stranger things have been done but...why? Why waste money on that when we can save up and eventually, years down the road, buy the entire Porche in which all the components are literally created to work in harmony with that engine. Or just chill with the Civit and save a ton of money on gas and maintenance. That is how I look at my stereo systems. The speakers I am using in my desktop are Omega Compact Alnico and the speakers for my TV set up are GR Research XLS Encore with all the bells and whistles. Both very good revealing speakers and still the difference is not worth the 6x price tag. I'm not even sure that I heard a 2x difference. Maybe on IEMs and sensitive headphones on that LTA MZ2. The J2 AKM is so so so good for the fun factor in my systems and for me really great even for like 80%ish of the analytical listening, so if I want to get away from the work I am doing at my desk and don't want to go into my listening room for the Audio GD gear, I'm still golden.
Over the last few months I have fully committed to keeping the J2AKM in my TV set up I am looking to find a dac to pull into my desktop set up that does what it does at the same price point. I have been contemplating just buying a second one. I had also been thinking about the Schiit Modi Multibit 2 after hearing stories of people with extremely expensive systems using it in their systems and loving it and Schiit basically builds for the fun factor. Then this J2AKM Socketed comes out. Going back to the TV system I mentioned before, the Akitika PR 102 preamp is opamp based and set up so that when I soldered all the parts in the opamps, just like the new J2, are in sockets so I can roll opamps. The changes that I heard when rolling opamps in my two channel system were incredible. The opamps are not cheap but, bang for the buck, the best and most drastic change I have heard in my system. THIS is what attracts me to the J2 socketed. I have had many amps and dacs over the years. Both solid state and tube. The opamp changes I heard are just as big as, if not bigger, than the changes I have heard from tube rolling or any other tweaks we love to pour money into. I do fully understand that my profound opamp rolling experiences have been only in the amplifier, not the dac world, world but the dac signal is still amplified with the opamps and to consider that at about $300 I can purchase the foundation of a dac I already LOVE and know for sure is the best bang for the buck I have personally experienced, and that I can then potentially tailor the sound to my liking even more is just amazing to me. It could be the rare marriage of what I need and all I want in the audio world. And this to me is why the hew Geshelli amplifier is 2x the cost of the previous one. The tone controls are awesome but that ability to tailor the actual amplification of the signal...at that price point...Geshelli knows how to party. That's for sure.
