Aragon or Acurus amp w/ Energy speakers (1 Viewer)

[Rob Blakeslee]

Hi,
I'm thinking of adding a 2 or 3 channel amp to drive my Energy Connoisseur C 6's. I'm looking to go the used market and was thinking Aragon 4004 mkII, Acurus A200 or A200x3, B&K EX4420 and Parasound HCA1500A. Looking for a few thoughts and my search isn't limited to those models. I'm hoping to spend around $600. Currently I have a B&K AVR202 and am very happy, but hoping a used amp might enhance the listening experience.
Thanks,
Rob

 

[Robert A. Willis Jr.]

If you can find a 8002 or 8008 buy them. I owned the 4004 and an Acurus ??? but when I upgraded to the 8002/8 series I found that they were far superior. There aren't many on the used market as people tend to hold on to them. The Aragon 4004 is better than any of the Acurus amps. Try to get one of the latter models (mk II or something like that).
All Aragon amps have had excellent control of the low end that far exceeds their cost and can be trusted to handle difficult impedance speaker loads. The rest of the spectrum is also handled beautiful.
rw
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[Kevin C Brown]

I have had both an Acurus 200x3 and an Aragon 8008x3. Both are 3 channel, 200W/channel amps.
(The 200x3 was reviewed by Audio magazine a while back. Their tests revealed that it actually put out upwards of 350W/channel into an 8 ohm load!)
I didn't hear any difference between the 2 amps with music or movies. And I tried! The Aragon is a big, bad, beautiful amp. I just couldn't justify the extra expense for no apparent gain. (I now have 2 200x3's.)
I do have a 6.1 THX EX/DTS-ES compatible system. Def Tech speakers though, which aren't that hard to drive.
You should be able to find used 200x3's for ~$600, but used 8008x3's usually go for substantially over a grand.
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