Halcro dm38 Stereo Power Amplifier Reviewed
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Halcro, a relatively new name to American audiophiles, first became known through their reference series of amplifiers. The dm38 at $20,000 is the lowest price amplifier in the series. The series begins with the dm38 180 Watt per channel, stereo amplifier and works its way up to the 270 Watt per channel monoblock dm88. The Halcro reference series amplifiers are comparable to the best solid state amplifiers in the world such as those from Krell, Mark Levinson and Pass Labs. Besides their uniquely shaped chassis, the amplifiers share a well deserved reputation of being extremely detailed and quiet. Their performance, build quality and industrial design are top notch.Additional Resources:
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The dm38 is housed in an "H" shaped chassis, however there are two horizontal cross bars. The shape of the 120 pound, 31 inch tall, 16 inch deep and wide, chassis itself was designed to maximize sound quality. The bottom cross bar contains the power supply, the top has the amplification circuits and the vertical legs have the heatsinks. The anodized aluminum body is incredibly well made with all fasteners hidden from sight. There are three sets of inputs, unbalanced current and voltage as well as balanced. The single set of speaker terminals are solid posts covered by large rubber knobs. Halcro gives much credit for its sound quality to its universal Power Factor Corrected power supply. The power supply is described in detail in the white paper available on the Halcro website. In brief, power factor corrected has the voltage from wall in phase with the current is drawn. With most amplifiers the voltage and current are out of phase. This results in a very clean and efficient power supply. Other design factors include limited negative feedback, active correction circuits and multi layer PCB boards coupled with high quality parts and careful layout.
The dm38 is a quick and neutral amplifier capable of resolving the finest details. The noise floor is extremely low which allows the amplifier's resolution to be heard. Listening to music through the dm38 is a revealing experience as it is capable of revealing all of the slightest details in the source recording. The amplifier is powerful enough to reproduce dramatic and detailed bass notes with ease yet detailed and clean enough to reproduce the most complex and delicate notes with great accuracy and no unwanted harshness.
The dm38 is housed in an "H" shaped chassis, however there are two horizontal cross bars. The shape of the 120 pound, 31 inch tall, 16 inch deep and wide, chassis itself was designed to maximize sound quality. The bottom cross bar contains the power supply, the top has the amplification circuits and the vertical legs have the heatsinks. The anodized aluminum body is incredibly well made with all fasteners hidden from sight. There are three sets of inputs, unbalanced current and voltage as well as balanced. The single set of speaker terminals are solid posts covered by large rubber knobs. Halcro gives much credit for its sound quality to its universal Power Factor Corrected power supply. The power supply is described in detail in the white paper available on the Halcro website. In brief, power factor corrected has the voltage from wall in phase with the current is drawn. With most amplifiers the voltage and current are out of phase. This results in a very clean and efficient power supply. Other design factors include limited negative feedback, active correction circuits and multi layer PCB boards coupled with high quality parts and careful layout.
The dm38 is a quick and neutral amplifier capable of resolving the finest details. The noise floor is extremely low which allows the amplifier's resolution to be heard. Listening to music through the dm38 is a revealing experience as it is capable of revealing all of the slightest details in the source recording. The amplifier is powerful enough to reproduce dramatic and detailed bass notes with ease yet detailed and clean enough to reproduce the most complex and delicate notes with great accuracy and no unwanted harshness.
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