Aragon 4004 MKII vs Emotiva XPA-2 (gen 2)

Which amp?

  • Aragon 4004 MKII

    Votes: 22 100.0%

  • Emotiva XPA-2

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    22
Ealyb11

Ealyb11

Well-Known Member
Looking to power a set of 4ohm Magnepan MMG's. My current amp isn't quite have the lungs to maker these sing. Looking for advice or opinions on these two amps. They are similar in price (800 ish$) except that the Aragon would be used and the Emotiva new. I know the Aragon is a dual mono and the Emotiva is not. The Emotiva makes about 100 watts more power than the Aragon at 4ohms. Any one with experience or advice please feel free to chime in. The gen 1 XPA-2 is about 300$ cheaper at 5-600 depending on where you get it, so that might be a consideration as well. Either amp will be piloted by my Yamaha C-70.

-Ben
 
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The Emotiva is new. The Aragon is terrific. Take your pick. When it was my money, I bought used Aragons.






If they were giving away Emotivas for free, I wouldn't walk across the street to get one.
 
I can't offer any opinion on the Emotiva, but the Aragon is simply bullet proof with excellent sq.
 
Ealyb11 said:
Is there a reason for that? Quality/reliability? Sound? Etc...
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Aragon = Designed and manufactured in USA by a competent workforce using quality components and with appropriate QA. Longstanding reputation as a High-End product with exceptional reliability.

Emotiva = Designed to be profitable in a post-crash economy. Sourced from the Communist Chinese until recently; and even now the products are more likely "assembled" in the USA from Communist subassemblies than genuinely manufactured here.
 
Last time I suggested NOT to get an Emotiva I was chastised for it until I mentioned I was a service person and was tired of calling all of these USA companies with Chinese made goods only to find NO service data and/or parts. There were NO, not one, posts after that. Aragon all the way. If we keep buying this off shore stuff it will never go away!

Craig
 
Aragon was part of a manufacturing group that also made Madrigal, Proceed, and Levinson equipment. That should tell you something.

Aragon is the easy choice in this case.
 
Tedrick said:
Aragon was part of a manufacturing group that also made Madrigal, Proceed, and Levinson equipment.
Click to expand...

Huh?

Mondial was the parent company of Aragon, Acurus, and AmFi. Mondial was independent until it's sale to Klipsch, Klipsch subsequently sold to Indy Audio Labs. Madrigal, Proceed, and Levinson are (were?) part of the Harman Conglomerate.

Tedrick said:
Aragon is the easy choice in this case.
Click to expand...
VERY true.
 
unless you pay too much, the aragon will hold it's value-if you buy the emotiva and, for whatever reason you want to sell it 2 years from now, do you think it will have held it's value? -i really don't think it would. there are some who would feel that the aragon is a classic quality amp, there are far fewer who would consider the emotiva anything special or even interesting a few years from now.
 
Schurkey said:
Huh?

Mondial was the parent company of Aragon, Acurus, and AmFi. Mondial was independent until it's sale to Klipsch, Klipsch subsequently sold to Indy Audio Labs. Madrigal, Proceed, and Levinson are (were?) part of the Harman Conglomerate.


VERY true.
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My mistake. Crossed up my Madrigals and Mondials. They both start with 'M' so I was close :dunno:.
 
I agree with the Aragon recommendation, having used one before to drive power hungry Dahlquists. I would bet your Maggies will sing beautifully with that amp!
 
Aragon is rated to be stable down to 1ohm loads, uses heavy duty metal die t03 outputs, dual mono high current transformers...i don't understand the question here. To me the aragon would be a no brainer and no questions asked.
 
The Aragon is often referred to as a "baby Krell" or "poor man's Krell", since the design and parts selection/specifications were highly influenced, if not mostly attributed to Dan D'Agostino of Krell. Maybe that provides a little perspective.
 
I like my Aragon - bulletproof iron grip and so much power it will corrupt you. There are better amps out there but you will pay MUCH more.

Of course, YMMV.

Happy Listening!
DeeCee
 
I have never heard Aragon equipment but I do have the emotive usp-1 pre and It does sound very good. But I have to say the build quality will never match that of the Aragon. I have to be mindful of the rca jacks for they mount to the pcb and are not secured as well as they should be to the chassis. I like the way it sounds in my system but it will not be around in 20 years the way its built.
 
Nothing wrong with the Emo. You get new plus a warranty. However you're comparing apples to oranges here. The Aragon is built like the proverbial brick ****house.
 
I've not had the opportunity to hear the Emotiva.

But I do have the dual-mono Aragon 4004 Mark-II in my main living room set up. I had bought this "four double-o four" several years ago after a doing lot of research and especially as it was made by the erstwhile Mondial Designs, USA in the same Connecticut-based facility which built industrial & military components. The 4004 has dual heatsinks and a solid aluminium front panel which has the unique ventilation slot (the "V" slot above the internal heatsinks), the trademark for Aragon. Under the hood you will find four banks of 4 output transistors each, which were meticulously hand matched and may still have the numbers noted on by the tech using a red sharpie!

Very well designed and superbly built. Sounds really well. If you find a well maintained unit for <$900 today, buy it. It is a keeper.

Rgds
Mayank
 
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