Halcro Eclipse stereo
The Halcro Eclipse Stereo marries inky-black silence with forensic clarity, immense power and iron-fisted bass control. HiFi News found it thrillingly natural across every genre, while What Hi-Fi? praised its vanishingly low distortion and precise stereo imaging. This sculptural powerhouse brings commanding scale, delicacy and exceptional speaker grip to a reference system.
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Deliciously Crispy
Sound Quality
96/100
Build Quality
95/100
Value for Money
95/100
Pros
Exceptionally silent, low-distortion presentation delivers crystalline clarity and fine low-level detail.
Massive power reserves combine with tight, deep bass and composure at high volume, without smearing dense mixes.
Outstanding channel separation and stereo imaging create an expansive, precisely organised soundstage.
Heavily engineered, distinctive chassis uses shielded sections and redesigned non-resonant heatsinks.
Cons
Its towering 79cm, 62kg chassis demands substantial space and careful installation.
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What Reviewers Are Saying
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 96/100
The Eclipse Stereo is described as exceptionally clean, revealing and musically involving, combining a very low-noise presentation with commanding control. Reviewers also highlight its natural tonal colour, unrestricted scale and unusually precise stereo presentation.
Transparency Resolution
97/100
What Hi-Fi heard "crystalline clarity" and no audible distortion, while Hi-Fi News found silence at the tweeter with no music playing. Hi-Fi News also describes every note and syllable as crystal clear, with a "maximum information" presentation that made recordings feel revelatory.
Tonal Balance Musicality
95/100
Despite its highly revealing nature, the Halcro is not portrayed as sterile: Hi-Fi News praises delicate, fully revealing voice and piano timbres, along with great character and focus in vocals. Orchestral brass, woodwind and strings are said to flow gloriously and naturally, and the amplifier was found engaging across all musical styles.
Dynamics
96/100
Hi-Fi News characterises the presentation as massive power under ruthless control, with orchestral crescendos building naturally. Dense electronic material simply gets louder without smear or loss of definition, backed by deep, tight bass and an unstoppable sense of drive; What Hi-Fi likewise notes enormous power reserves.
Soundstage Imaging
94/100
What Hi-Fi was struck by channel separation so complete it could be mistaken for a pair of monoblocks, alongside beautiful stereo imaging. Hi-Fi News also heard an intimate, present audience acoustic and voices decaying naturally into the reverberant space of the recording.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Build Quality
95/100
This is an unusually substantial 62kg amplifier with separate, shielded power-supply and amplifier sections, heavy machined aluminium construction and redesigned non-resonant heatsinks. The engineering includes extensive protection systems and a layout intended to isolate sensitive stages, while the review unit's finish and structural execution were described in considerable detail.
Value for Money
95/100
At £46,000 in Premium finish and approximately $58,900, the Eclipse Stereo is firmly a luxury purchase. Nevertheless, What Hi-Fi considers it good value even at twice its asking price, and Hi-Fi News' description of it as revelatory with high-quality speakers supports the view that its performance is compelling among elite amplifiers.
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Specifications
- Power
- Power output into 4 ohms resistive > 350 W Power output into 8 ohms resistive > 180 W (Both channels driven, measured at 1kHz)
- Distortion
- At full power output, all harmonic distortion orders THD <-120 dB (<1000 parts per billion) up to 20 kHz (100 kHz B.W.) at 350 W into 4 ohms. THD @ 1 kHz <-134 dB (<200 parts per billion). For sum of 19 and 20 kHz tones, each delivering 87.5 W into 4 ohms = peak power 350 W, resulting intermodulation products each <-120 dB relative to output. SMPTE-IM intermodulation products are each <-120 dB relative to output.
- Inputs
- There are three input modes: an unbalanced voltage mode input with an impedance of 22 kOhms a balanced voltage mode input with an impedance of 22 kOhms + 22 kOhms a minimal path voltage mode with an input impedance of 660 Ohms The voltage gain of the balanced and unbalanced inputs is 30 V/V and for the minimal path mode is 15 V/V.
- Noise
- The equivalent input noise at the input is 5 nV/sqrt(Hz) for the voltage modes and 6 pA/sqrt(Hz) for the current mode.
- Frequency Response
- 3Hz – 215kHz: -3db 7Hz – 90kHz: -1dB (Measured at 1W output)
- Slew rate limit
- Maximum slew rate for both small signal and maximum output voltage is 100V/μs, (which is equivalent to a maximum output voltage at approximately 250 kHz.)
- Power supply
- Active power factor correction minimizes mains current harmonic distortion 110V model operates from 100-120 r.m.s, 45-65Hz, 240V model operates from 220-240Hz r.m.s., 45-65Hz less than 100 parts per million mains hum and ripple on the amplifier power rails conforms with PFC and EU emission standards set for 2002
- Overload
- Recovery from hard overload at 20 kHz into 4 ohms is 1 ms.
- Protection
- The amplifier protection: is short-circuit proof has over current limiting has gradual power limiting if amplifier becomes too hot will cut out if a continuous DC offset appears on output will cut out if output current exceeds 12 A average continuously over a period of a few minutes is protected against most input overloads The power supply protection: will cut out if most common faults are detected in the power supply (such as over-voltage, master clock at incorrect frequency, excessive temperatures) is protected against most mains transients
- Components
- For reliability, all semiconductors are at least industrial grade. All electrolytics are rated to 105°C. Only highly linear resistors and MKP10/FKP1 capacitors are employed in the critical audio path six-layer PCBs are used in the power amplifier to minimize stray magnetic fields and to accurately define voltages four-layer PCBs are used in the power supply to minimize E.M.I. and voltage transients, which improves reliability and power efficiency
- Compartments
- There are four heavily shielded compartments: a power supply unit an input amplifier section a power amplifier compartment an output filter compartment
- Filtering
- Series and common mode EMI filtering is present: on the mains input between the amplifier and power supply High frequency filtering is present at the inputs and output.
- Dimensions
- Weight, 135 lb or 62 kg Height, 31 in or 79 cm Width, 16 in or 40 cm Depth, 16 in or 40 cm Shipping weight, 190 lb or 85 kg
Manufacturer's Description — Halcro
The all new Halcro Eclipse amplifiers herald a new era in the Halcro story. The original Halcro dm amplifier hit the market to disbelief – orders of magnitude lower distortion than anyone believed possible. The Eclipse amplifiers take musical expression to a new height.
The new Halcro team have spent the past couple of years exploring every aspect of the unique platform for possible improvements. We present – the new reference in amplification.
Available in both stereo and mono versions, the Eclipse series is unparalleled in its ability to render details formerly lost in the distortion.
The Eclipse enjoys a completely redesigned input stage, further reducing non-linear effects and distortion. There are multiple independently tracking power supplies, superior internal shielding and higher output power. Finally the Eclipse amplifier offers a new, modern, ‘lighter’ take on the distinctive and award winning Halcro aesthetic. Even this contributes to better performance with the new, machined-from-solid casework reducing microphonics.
Halcro amplifiers offer an unmatched insight into the music. They position everything precisely in the soundstage due to their unique ability to avoid adding ‘ghost’ notes that are thrown into the mix by the non-linear distortion of a conventional amplifier. Lack of distortion aside, one of the many things that make Halcro amplifiers so good is the way they maintain the phase coherence of the signal source. Phase coherence is a measure of the degree to which a system maintains the relative timing of various notes or tones within complex music.
When it comes to driving your loudspeakers musically, the Eclipse has no peer. The Eclipse stereo produces 180 watts/per channel into an eight-ohm loudspeaker, 350 watts/channel into four-ohms.
Beyond all the technology, there is only one thing that matters: the ability to convey the emotion of music!
Available in premium or standard finishes.
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Authorized dealers for Halcro Eclipse stereo
- Audio Gallery — online and in-store — Las Rozas de Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain (website)
- Audiofeel — in-store — Doetinchem, Gelderland, Netherlands (website)
- Audioplus Hi End — in-store — San Benedetto del Tronto, Marche, Italy (website)
- Avantgarde — in-store — Kowloon, Hong Kong (website)
- Hifi Collector — in-store — Uraidla, South Australia, Australia (website)
- HiFi Connoisseur — in-store — Sunnybank, Queensland, Australia (website)
- Klarsund — in-store — Krokslätt, Västra Götalands län, Sweden (website)
- Nirvana Sound — in-store — Cheltenham, Victoria, Australia (website)
- Outlet AudioVideo — in-store — Majadahonda, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain (website)
- The Audio Salon — in-store — Los Angeles, California, United States (website)
and 2 more verified dealers