Aragon 28K - what changed with the Mk II

Just happened to stumble on this thread. I have an original 28k, and I can tell you that it is a very nice piece. I found it on Audiogon about 2 years ago. I think I paid around $450 for it, but it is clean and perfect. It sounds very nice and has motorized noble pots for both volume and balance. I bought it because it matches up very nicely with my 8008BB. My only complaint is that it does not have any balanced inputs or outputs, but I can live with that as my amp and pre-amp are located close together. I don't know much about the MK II. I feel your pain about your purchase, sorry that that happened to you.
Zak

I appreciate the information, but it looks like the 28K Mk II is going back. I got it today, pulled it out of the box and .... no remote. I've gotta quit buying stuff on ebay. Now it's going to be a fight over who pays the return shipping.

Back to shopping.

I'm pretty sure my daughter's preamp is pre Klipsch. I bought it from a former Aragon employee after they went to Klipsch who "happened" to have a few around after he left. I'm willing to bet that it's a Mondial product too, 'cause I would have remembered otherwise. It's built like a military piece, is black and matches my other equipment. That guy made me a deal I couldn't refuse for a new Aragon Preamp. My daughter loves it.

I am familiar with the amps. I have a 2004 and am keeping my eye out for a MKII for the reasons that you stated above. The 28K, on the other hand, has been nearly impossible to source information for.

The pre that you bought for your daughter must have been the 24K (assuming that it was one of the two that you mentioned) because the 28K has an internal power supply and is remote controlled.

I do know that the original 28K was pre Klipsch, but the MKII was post Klipsch. I was just wondering how much had changed. What I really wanted was a MK I, but those seem to be pretty hard to find. I grabbed the MKII because I haven't seen many of them, the price was just ok, and the unit was "only" nine years old.

I'm sorry this is not a direct answer to your question, but I have a 2004 amp, a 4004 amp and a 2004 MKII amp, the MKII sounds better. The big deal at the time was the MKII's used higher grade and better matched Toshiba transistors. Those transistors, as I understand are no longer in production, highly desired and sold counterfeit on ebay. Back in the day, Aragon offered to upgrade your original amp to a MKII for a very nominal fee, maybe $200. You got the new transistors and a "MKII" paper sticker on the back of the amp. Both were Mondial, before Klipsch.
I bought my daughter a 24k or 28K, which I believe was also MKII and the big deal there was the upgraded and more reliable external power supply in the triangular case and the Penn and Giles potentiometer. Again, Mondial designs just before Klipsch bought the inventory and became the distributor. Shortly after Klipsch bought the name, the product changed, most notably the look.

Ebay has a short online history about Aragon.