Ok, what's the deal with Mondial Designs and Aragon? (1 Viewer)

[Terrell]

Okay, so Klipsch bought Mondial, and they did away with the Acurus line and kept the Aragon line. It also looks like the combined some of the features and made the entire Aragon line satisify the lower priced seperates market and the higher priced seperates market. However, even the lower priced Aragon amps, which look to have the same power ratings as the previous Acurus amp lineup, have a far superior build and parts quality.
Is my summation correct? Can someone provide me the overview on this company now, and what has happened? Thanks.
These amps look awesome. Check out the pic below.
http://www.klipsch.com/photo_gal/STA...7-SILVERON.jpg

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Terrell- I would agree with everything you said except the following:

... even the lower priced Aragon amps, which look to have the same power ratings as the previous Acurus amp lineup, have a far superior build and parts quality.

How do you draw that conclusion?
The 2002, which is a 2 channel amp, costs the same $1500 as what the previous Acurus A200x3 cost, and *that* was a 3 channel amp. So at least by cost alone, the new series is more expensive than the old (I'm just familiar with the A200x3's price). So naturally, I would expect some improvement somewhere in terms of design, performance, etc.
But "far superior"? I don't see that.
Oh, the word is, that the Acurus name is simply being put on the backburner, and not completely "done away with." Will come back some time in the future after Klipsch has had time to focus on the Aragon name.

 

[Terrell]

Look at the chassis construction. It's far superior in build. At least from what I can tell, there's a 1/2 inch thick aluminum faceplate, as opposed to 3/8 inch. The overall construction looks more solid. The power buttons look more like Aragon instead of Acurus, and more solid. The fit and finish looks more high end. Even the heatsinks look more solid. This is not to say that Acurus has poor build quality. Acurus has fantastic build quality. But this piece looks clearly a step above ever Acurus' great amp. Is there a place that has specs on these pieces? I couldn't find it at the site. Only basic info and description.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Terrell- Maybe the different chassis is the difference in price...
Now, I don't know much 'bout no device physics er power impedance curves, but last time I checked, the front panel thickness and on/off switch didn't have much to do with no sound quality of any perticular unit. (I'm joking but see my point?)
But yes, it will be interesting to see the specs when they're available, but even better yet, reviews with measurements.
I have two A200x3 amps for a 6.1 system. I also have a copy of the review that Audio Magazine did in 1995 with the predecessor 200x3. It was tested as doing 315W into 8 ohms, and 515W into 4 ohms, per channel, constant line voltage maintained (the 200x3 was spec'ed at 200 and 250W respectively, the A200x3 was 200 and 300W respectively). Freq response 20 - 20 kHz +/- 0.25 dB, etc, etc, etc. Obviously, Acurus (and Aragon) products have always been highly reviewed.
To be honest, maybe for the price, the chassis is the wisest place to try to improve the older line... Might cost too much to try to improve on the sound quality itself because it was already there.
Oh, really nice Mondial (and Acurus) forums on the Klipsch site too.
I did notice that there's no 3 channel amp in the new line up though... :frowning:

 

[Terrell]

Yep Kevin, it clearly looks like they've tied to make two different series of amps in two slightly different price ranges. The Aragon 2002, 2005, and 2007 are a bit lower in price and power, and the 3002, 3005, and the 8008 and Palladium are more expensive and somewhat more powerful. So it looks like they've tried to divide Aragon amps into two classes while maintaining high quality.