Well, I was all ready to get the Aragon repaired/refurbished when I received some info about a small company in California called ClassD Audio. It's a small kit amplifier company that has recently branched out to offering finished amplifiers. I went on their website (www.classdaudio.com) and it piqued my interest.
I did some searches on the internet and, after reading many positive owners' testimonials, I called them this morning. I talked to the owner, Tom. He's a great guy and he explained his company's philosophy; basically trying to build the best amplifiers he can and relying on word of mouth referrals rather than advertising to build his business. We had a good conversation and I explained my system and what I was looking for. He recommended their SDS-440cs model as a good match for my system. It's a propietary class d amp that delivers 600 watts/channel@4 ohms. He said they're coming out with a new casing that is black with a polished aluminum face plate. Photos are not yet published of the new style on the website, but he said he could use the new style case if I would like. I don't think there's an extra charge for these newly styled cases but I could be wrong. He told me he designed his amps to have tube-like qualities in the midrange on up and solid state qualities in the bass. This is exactly what I am after for my system sound.
So, I ordered this model in the new casing today. He even asked if I would like the silver screws for the aluminum face plate or black. When I said silver, he said he'll send me the black ones for free if I change my mind once I see it. Talk about good customer service.
I just wanted to thank everyone for their input. My decision to buy a new amp was based on the Aragon being over 20 yrs old and the possibilities of these new amps. Tom said this model works very well with Magnepan spkrs and is stable with low ohm loads. I'll try to post a new thread once I have a chance to listen to the amp in my system. I'm trying not to get my expectations too high but I can't wait to test this thing out.
I did some searches on the internet and, after reading many positive owners' testimonials, I called them this morning. I talked to the owner, Tom. He's a great guy and he explained his company's philosophy; basically trying to build the best amplifiers he can and relying on word of mouth referrals rather than advertising to build his business. We had a good conversation and I explained my system and what I was looking for. He recommended their SDS-440cs model as a good match for my system. It's a propietary class d amp that delivers 600 watts/channel@4 ohms. He said they're coming out with a new casing that is black with a polished aluminum face plate. Photos are not yet published of the new style on the website, but he said he could use the new style case if I would like. I don't think there's an extra charge for these newly styled cases but I could be wrong. He told me he designed his amps to have tube-like qualities in the midrange on up and solid state qualities in the bass. This is exactly what I am after for my system sound.
So, I ordered this model in the new casing today. He even asked if I would like the silver screws for the aluminum face plate or black. When I said silver, he said he'll send me the black ones for free if I change my mind once I see it. Talk about good customer service.
I just wanted to thank everyone for their input. My decision to buy a new amp was based on the Aragon being over 20 yrs old and the possibilities of these new amps. Tom said this model works very well with Magnepan spkrs and is stable with low ohm loads. I'll try to post a new thread once I have a chance to listen to the amp in my system. I'm trying not to get my expectations too high but I can't wait to test this thing out.