Sim W5 vs. Aragon 8008BB

I can't comment on the Aragon amp becuase I never had one. In regard to the Sim Audio W-5 I have to tell you that I have had one for a litle over a year now and I have been very happy with it. Since I got it, I quit trying to upgrade my system. I just listen to music and enjoy it.

There is supposed to be a long break in period for the amp but even before it got broken in it was a joy to listen to. I don't know what the Aragon amp looks like but if looks are important to you, the Sim is killer. I got it in black with silver colored legs and gold feet. With the blue LED being the only noticable feature on the front panel (except for the Sim logo) it is very pleasant to look at even when it is not being used. I set it up with a Sim P-3 pre and Soliloquy 5.3 speakers. I have an inexpensive CD changer and run that through an MSB Link DAC 3 with the upsampling upgrade. All interconnects are silver as are the speaker cables. The results have been very satisfying and I have no plans to try and improve this set up. If you shop around for the Sim stuff, good prices can be found.

In my opinion, Sim and Aragon are a little on the "dark" side in the midrange, but have great bass control. The Marsh tends to be on the "brighter" side in mids, and is nicely neutral in bass. All 3 can be a bit bright in the treble, depending on speaker/cable. All have good detail and soundstage. A critical factor to consider here is that these 3 amps (like many amps) need a LONG break-in period before they can be fairly evaluated. They are all quite harsh when new; so try to borrow well-broken-in demo units from a dealer to hear in your home system. It sounds like you have a flexible price range ($2K-$5K for the amps listed), so you should look into others as well. Let us know of any comparisons you make....