David Looser wrote:
"Trevor Wilson" wrote

**You need to see how they've (the Halcro DM88) been put together.
Then it makes sense. And yes, they are stunning to look at, IMO.

I'd have chosen the words "odd" or "strange" to describe their
appearance, not "stunning"

**Beauty, as always, is in the eye of the beholder. Having seen the beast in
person, I find it a very attractive thing indeed. It looks nothing like a
typical 'black box'. Fit and finish is extraordinary.


Of course, with the cost of the industrial design exercise, they'd
want to look damned good. Romour has it that the cost was just under
7 figures (Australian) for industrial design alone.

Besides the fact that they look anything but "damned good" I'd stay
well clear of any product (especially a low-volume production product
such as this and even more a power amplifier) where a 7 figure sum
had been spent on the appearance. Audio power amplifiers are there to
be heard and not seen.

**I did say: "RUMOR has it..." I don't know how much the industrial design
cost. It may have been a thousand Bucks, for all I know. I merely repeated
the RUMOR. Audio power amps may well be to be heard and not seen, but they
rarely are. As a consequence, manufacturers have spend fair chunks of money
to make them look nice. IMO, Halcro have succeeded very nicely.



In any case, my Scottish heritage prevents me from paying for
anything that doesn't contribute to the overall sound quality,
reliability or longevity. IOW: I detest 'bling' for it's own sake.

Which seems at odds with your apparent approval of a 7 figure sum
being spent on the appearance of the DM88.

**I would need to be very wealthy indeed, to even think about spending money
on such a product. That does not mean that I approve of the RUMORED, sub-7
figure sum spent on industrial design. This comment begs yet another
question and some editorial.

The Halcro cosmetic design has remained essentially unaltered in several
years (around 10 years). How many different cosmetic designs has (say)
Musical Fidelity, Krell and the others produced in that time? How long will
Halcro continue with their present cosmetics? I sure as Hell don't know.
Clearly, a good industrial design can last many years, without change, thus
allowing the manufacturer to amortise the costs of that design over a long
period and a lot of products. What is better? A Halcro whose design remains
unaltered for more than a decade? Or a Musical Fidelity that changes
(seemingly) every few months?


--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au