Aragon Amps

Mondial has historically had wonderful customer service. I can't say enough good things about them. I have had a nearly identical situation as P mmk with my ACT-3 processor. They repaired it (essentially replacing the board) for free on a used piece. Not only that, but turn around was 2 days. Great guys, very nice.
However, I am not a big fan of their amp sound. As said above by others- very analytical. Similar to Krell at a lesser price, but I don't mean that as a good thing. Exceptionally accurate, but it took the life and emotion out of my music. This may be personal preference, I have settled on Aleph 2 monos for my 2 channel system, so my preferences lie in another direction. The amps do pack a tremendous punch, and boy are they FAST. And I mean that in a good way. Could probably drive a large bus. They might be great HT amps, but maybe not the most musical ones. If you like a really accurate SS sound, then they may be for you.
Happy listening,

Todd

I own the Aragon 8008BB and I am trying to sell it. It has been a great amp and agree mostly w/ madisonears comments. I also think Mondial Designs (the manufacturer of the Aragon) has excellent customer service. I purchased a used Aragon Soundstage that was supposedly in mint condition. It had a few software bugs and was scratched. I live near their coporate office and brought the unit over to them. Even though I told them it was used over the phone, they fixed the software chip. I asked them how much a new top would cost me and they said they'd look up the price. When they came back everything was upgraded to current software and they replace the top FREE!!!!! I was very happy to say the least. Now that they have been purchased by Klipsch I hope they continue producing great products with outstanding service.

I had both the Aragon 8008x3bb, 8008bb and 8008. These amps are well priced and performs very neutral across the entire spectrum. Noted for bass performance and build quality. The only flaw I found in the three amps is that they all make a slight humming noise. Secondly, don't mate them with bright sounding speakers. Overall, if I had a choice, I chose the Brystons which does all the Aragon does but with a 20 year warrantee and a customer service department to die for.

I owned an 8008BB for about a year. It was very powerful, with authoritative, deep bass, very crisp (somewhat bright, perhaps) highs, and decent mids for a SS amp. Threw a huge soundstage with good images. The amp seemed indestructible, built like it would run forever. I once accidentally shorted the two poles on one channel with a stray strand of speaker wire. It played for about an hour but finally shut down due to overheating. I thought I had ruined it, but the amp started right up again after cooling down, with no apparent damage. A very well made product, and an excellent value, but not the very best sounding SS amp. I would say it is a good move up from Adcom, Parasound and similar entry level amps.

The Aragon 4004 and 8008 are very good amps. They are notably better than Acurus, NAD, ADCOM, etc, just like the other response mentioned. Those amps displayed a lot of annoying exaggeration of sibilant consonants. The Aragon is in a different class. It is very close Krell (way overated). Bryston, I think makes the best sounding solid state amps. They are nice and warm sounding, not harsh at all, and can drive anything. Let me just mention when I say best, I mean best with a reasonble price of $5000 and under (not that 5G is a pawlty sum as it'll put a kid in state college for a 4 year degree here in Louisiana).

The Aragon is more like the Krell in the sense that it sounds cold and clinical. It projects a decent soundstage. The Aragons can pump out a lot of current and thus can drive just about anything.

Aragon is a great value. You get to jump into the next level of sonic integrity with just a little more cash outlay than an ADCOM or Parasound will cost you. The build quality is excellent and it's sounds good enough that you probably wouldn't want to buy anything new for quite a long time unless you wanted to move from SS to tube.

Ciao,
Daniel

Aragon is probably the most inderated audiopieces out there.They advertise very little and they count on word of mouth to produce their excellent reviews.The 8008bb is probably one of the best buys out there.The Palladiums rank right up there with any of the big names.Build quality is superb and anyone who has owned them keeps them or upgrades to their higher end models.You really cannot go wrong with any of their pices.

No-but the 4004 Mk I is a better alternative to the Parasound Acurus,NAD, amps.
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