classe or aragon
Chris Ilnicki
chr...@cup.hp.com CHRIS ILNICKI at Hewlett Packard, Cupertino , California
I'm looking for a new amp for my speakers ads sat6 and sub10. I've narrowed my
choice to Classe70 and Aragon 2004. I'd like to hear some more about those
amps. Does anybody have any experience with them ?
Al Conte
Excellent choices here.
The Arragon will give you more punch and guts down low, but not a whole lot
more.
The Classe70 will sound very nice in the midrange, almost silky.
I give the Arragon the edge in top end air.
These two amps are very close.
The decision will probably come down to listeners music type and its compatibility
with either of the two.
Al
Eric Hansen
>>I'm looking for a new amp for my speakers ads sat6 and sub10. I've narrowed my
>>choice to Classe70 and Aragon 2004. I'd like to hear some more about those
>>amps. Does anybody have any experience with them ?
>Excellent choices here.
>The Arragon will give you more punch and guts down low, but not a whole lot
>more.
>The Classe70 will sound very nice in the midrange, almost silky.
>I give the Arragon the edge in top end air.
>These two amps are very close.
>The decision will probably come down to listeners music type and its compatibility
>with either of the two.
I own the Aragon 4004, which is reputed to be identical circuitry to the 2004,
just twice the power (200 wpc into 8 ohms vs 100 wpc). I don't quite
understand the above comment "The Aragon will give you more punch and guts
down low, but not a whole lot more.", then "I give the Arragon the edge in
top end air." This seems contradictory.
I have listened to the Classe in a store, but not critically. I can comment
on the Aragon, though, since I've owned it for a little over a year. The
bass is excellent - almost unsurpassed except for maybe some equipment by
Krell. There are many examples of the $1850 4004 being used to drive
low-impedance speakers costing many times more (i.e., Apogee Grand). As
for mid-range and high-end, then Aragon is considered somewhat "laid back."
Obviously, the amp is *not* grainy or harsh in any way -- I would only
assume this when you've passed the $1000 threshold for equipment. It is
pleasant sounding with nice imaging and detail. My main reason for choosing
the 4004 was because it mates well with my Apogee Centaur Minors.
The best advice is simply to audition both the Aragon and the Classe and
pick the one which sounds better to you. Easy.
Incidentily, the Aragon is designed by Ken D'Agostino of Krell fame. His
designs are noted for being excellent at handling bass. There have been
two very good reviews of the Aragon 4004 (Mk I and then Mk II) in
Stereophile rates the 4004 as "class B".
Eric
Robert Schneider
: I have listened to the Classe in a store, but not critically. I can comment
: on the Aragon, though, since I've owned it for a little over a year. The
: bass is excellent - almost unsurpassed except for maybe some equipment by
: Krell. There are many examples of the $1850 4004 being used to drive
: low-impedance speakers costing many times more (i.e., Apogee Grand). As
Eric, I think you are getting a little carried away here. I owned
an Aragon 4004 MkII for a year and a half, and I had somewhat
different impressions than you. First, the bass may be good
in comparison to, say, an Adcom GFA555, it falls short of a LOT
of other amps. I picked up a used Threshold S500 for $1750 (they
were selling for $3K prior to their obsolesence) that absolutely
blows away the 4004 on bass with both the old Acoustat 2+2's that
I used to have and on the bass panels of my Apogee Full Range
I demoed an old S200 which sold for what the 4004 does and it too
blew the 4004 away on bass on my old Acoustat 2+2's.
Personally, I feel that bass reproduction is the weakest link of the
4004. It's strong points are it's ability to handle very low
impedence loads with relative ease, very neutral mids and highs
and solid (but not what I would call excellent) bass.
Actually, I take that back. The weakest link of the 4004 is that
you have to deal with Mondial if you have any problems. I had a
channel that died when a cap smoked out while still under
warranty. They refused to honor the warranty. Fortunately, my
dealer covered it and said that they would deal with Mondial.
: for mid-range and high-end, then Aragon is considered somewhat "laid back."
: Obviously, the amp is *not* grainy or harsh in any way -- I would only
Agreed.
: Incidentily, the Aragon is designed by Ken D'Agostino of Krell fame. His
It was my understanding that he did the initial design. It was
also my understanding that he did not do the design of the MKII
upgrades. Is there evidence to the contrary on this?
: designs are noted for being excellent at handling bass. There have been
The Aragon is no Krell.
: two very good reviews of the Aragon 4004 (Mk I and then Mk II) in
: Stereophile rates the 4004 as "class B".
Given the unusual change in direction in Stereophiles reviews
(starting with the personel changes dating back to the late
1980's) one needs to take their recommendations with a large
grain of salt (IMHO).
Bob Schneider
Kirk Lindstrom
>choice to Classe70 and Aragon 2004. I'd like to hear some more about those
>amps. Does anybody have any experience with them ?
I have a/d/s/ M15s and use the Acurus A250. Speaking to the engineer
at Aragon, you get more power with the A250 and is a better choice unless
you are driving speakers with very low impedances. Then again, I haven't
heard a real difference between quality amps. Amps that go low well, IMO,
put out high current a bit better and could account for why those that
don't sound "better" in the mids since the others don't have as much lows
"getting in the way".
Kirk out
=> "We are what we pretend to be." - Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
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