Aragon 8008 bb vs. Krell KSA-150

I had an 8008st and replaced it with a Krell FPB 200. Although their rated power is the same, as are most of their specs, there was no comparison between the two amps.

I'm not sure what your budget is, but the newer FPB products are a lot better than the KSA series. Since they are newer and run considerably cooler caps will not be an issue for a longer time.

I wrote a review of the FPB 200 and compared it to the Aragon. check it out if you're curious...

I've always admired the the real Krells. I've never been really impressed by Aragon. While the Aragon was a step up from entry level, it never stepped up to the top tier, IMHO.

wow, as always, the more i learn the less i know.

thanks gents for giving me some valuable insight. guess i need to sit down and consider just how far down this here rabbit hole me wants to go. this stuff has had a strange hold of me since i was a kid and i am just now getting to the point where i can start modestly rewarding myself.

hands down - i believe that any of the above mentioned amps would greatly improve my current setup. the pressing question is which one will i likely have my most m~ u ~ s ~ i ~ c ~ a ~ l experience with? having not logged any time in front of these killer {i'm assuming} pieces above really does entice me - but due to inexperience - it might cloud the water a bit.

i did hear an early rickie lee jones on a $40,000 2-channel krell system about five years ago and almost lost my lid. it was the best thing i ever heard. then again, there was a time when i thought the best tangerines in the world were right off of my grandpa's tree. might have even taken a swing atcha if ya said otherwise. my tune humbly changed when i traveled a bit and tasted what raw/organic farming principals could do to the flavor off such a wonderful fruit... different world indeed.

far as i was concerned i was tasting tangerines for the first time. this the kind of magic i want my system to reveal.

i'm relatively fresh off this hi-end boat and anxious to learn. what sorts of things do you need to know about me and my listening environment/tastes that may lend itself to more specific upgrade recommendations? something i might consider growing into?

do i even have a strong enough sonic - foundation to begin asking such questions?

where do i go from here?

who's on first?

p.s. upgrading the cables makes a lot of sense and should be a great start to my journey... will look into that asap.

thanks again

You're on the right track. Just keep reading. Something that will help more than an amp, preamp or dac is room treatment. This can be fairly inexpensive and reward you with big dividends. Your system will not perform as well as it could without room treatment. When you improve your room acoustics you'll be able to easily hear it. Realtraps.com has good articles and there's an acoustics forum at audiocircle.com that Ethan from Realtraps frequents.

Most of us learned many years into this hobby how important a good acoustical environment is. I'd consider it early in the game. By all rights the room should be the first thing considered, not the last. Best of luck to you. Audio is a great hobby if you love music.

Tim, you have already started down the rabbit hole. The best advice I can give is to buy things that are definate improvements. DO NOT make lateral moves.

While the Aragon 8008st (or even better the 8008BB) is a good amp, it will not compare to Krell of only a few years ago. My FPB 200 (not the cx version) was far and away a better, more musical sounding amp.

If you can, get an amp around which you can continue to build a system. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that a system should be built around the amp, but since that's the product for which you're shopping it doesn't make sense to focus on any other direction.

Any journey begins where you are at the time. Just step wisely.