I too had an Aragon 2004. The sound was really good, clean, with power beyond its competition! The design was also unique. So, I was a happy camper for 5 years. Eventually, however, I went for my next upgrade.
Prior amps after having had receivers by Pioneer, Sansui, Kenwood, and Denon were:
Sony ES, Denon POA 2000, NAD, Adcom 555, Luxman M-02.
I had enjoyable listening experiences with the 2004 which I paired with the following:
B & W Matrix 805 (120w)
B & W Nautilus 805 (120w)
B & W Nautilus 804 (200w), it is at this juncture and out of curiosity that I considered upgrading once more.
With the higher power capacity of the Nautilus 804, I got curious if I still can get more out of the pair by feeding it with a better matched amp. While the Aragon was somewhat comparable sounding to the Luxman I used to have, the Parasound Halo A51 paired with the Parasound C1 Processor and connected via XLRs, just pleasantly surprised me! This I have to share with utmost honesty and sincerity--they simply blew my expectations! When the store I bought them from allowed me to have a 1 week test, I knew it should sound better. But how much better completely floored me!!! It was just another level of listening experience wherein so much more details were heard everywhere!
On familiar recordings, I heard instruments on the highs that I never knew existed and they were really crystal clear, yet sweet!!! Midrange vocals as well as instruments just came much more detailed and alive!!! And the bass was very quick and punchy, deep and well defined, tight and strong!!! All sonic spectrums were simply improved upon! It was a great match for the B & W 804s.
I do not know how this Parasound Halo set would compare to the current Aragon 8008 or against other excellent makes or models? For sure there are a lot of better set ups with the current plethora of improved high-end stuff. But for now, and with special consideration to my present price point, I am really contented. The law of diminishing returns steps in greatly from hereon.
BTW, other brands I have had the chance to audition were: McIntosh, Conrad-Johnson, Anthem, Rotel, Classe, Audio Research, Proceed, etc.
Other speakers I've owned were: Kef 104.2, B & W 602, JBL 100 monitors, Bose 501 & 601, Pioneer, etc.