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This is intended to introduce you to the "Classic" Aragon amplifiers. That is, those Aragon-branded products that were originally designed by the Mondial Design Team before the sale of the Mondial product line in 2001 to Klipsch, the current owner. Other Mondial brands are Acurus and AmFi, with Aragon as the quality leader, Acurus at a lower price but still providing exceptional quality, and AmFi as a short-lived attempt to bring Asian product upmarket.
Please note that I am indebted to Mike Kusiak for supplying me with quotable e-mails providing me with additional information and a few corrections. His contributions are in italics. I also wish to thank Steve Donalson, Adam Gershon, and Steve Phillips at Klipsch for answering my questions in the Klipsch Forums.
A guide for Aragon Pre-amps and Home Theater Processors ; and for Aragon Source Components is also hosted here at eBay.
The Aragon amps discussed here are the 004 series and the 8000 series:
4004 and 4004 MK II (200 watts per channel into 8 ohm)
2004 and 2004 MK II (100 w/p/c/8) (Don't confuse this one with the later 2002, 2005, and 2007 amps)
Palladium (a mono, balanced-input version of the 4004. 400w/p/c/8, 600w/p/c/4)
8008ST (a single transformer replacement for the 4004, at 200 w/p/c/8 using RCA input only.)
8008BB (a double-transformer replacement for the 4004, at 200 w/p/c/8 using both RCA or balanced inputs, selectively.)
8002 (a replacement for the 2004, at 125 w/p/c/8, and based on the 8008ST)
8008X3 (a three channel version of the 8008 with RCA input)
8008X3B (an 8008X3 with both RCA or balanced inputs, selectively.)
8008X5 (a five channel version of the 8008 using both RCA or balanced inputs, selectively.)
Palladium II (a mono, balanced or RCA input version of the 8008. 400w/p/c/8, 600w/p/c/4)
8008 MK II (Identical to the 8008BB, but with upgraded "Klipsch" cosmetics)
Palladium 1K (Identical to the Palladium II, but with upgraded "Klipsch" cosmetics.)
004 series (except Palladium)
The first Aragon amplifier products were the 4004, and it's little brother the 2004. The 4004/2004's electrical design was widely reported to be the work of Dan D'Agostino of Krell. Mr. D'Agostino was credited in various magazines as being responsible for 1) Circuit design of the early Aragon components; 2) Parts selection; and 3) Development of the Quality Assurance program for Mondial Designs. This may--or may not--be true, but it is NOT confirmed by Mondial or Klipsch. The Industrial Design (the way the product looks, and to some extent, the internal parts layout) is the work of Robbii Wessen, as evidenced by the name "Robbii" silkscreened on the back panels. Robbii performed the industrial design for the Aragon and Acurus product line up until the Klipsch takeover. The 4004 and 2004 share chassis and general layout--the front panels are a flat plate, and the top and sides are formed from a single sheet of steel, perforated over the internal heat sinks which are below the famous "V" notch on the top. The 2004 uses fewer output transistors, and a single, dual-wound transformer while the 4004 has two transformers. The 4004 was named because it could output 400 watts into a 4-ohm load, thus 400-4 which became 4004. The 2004 is rated at exactly half the output of the 4004, 100 watts into 8 ohms, 200 into 4 ohms. Don't be fooled, the power supply of either amp is quite huge in relation to it's rated output. The output transistors are individually tested and matched. There are 8 output transistors per channel on the 4004, four for the positive side of the waveform, and four for the negative side. Each group of four transistors will be matched. Same goes for the 2004, except half as many transistors are used. The output transistors are metal case units.
"The original metal case outputs [output transistors] of the 4004 were made by RCA or Motorola. Because of the great variability of the Vbe and Beta characteristics of these transistors, matching was essential. Without matching, one or more of the parallel connected output transistors would conduct all of the bias current, leaving the others off. Later, before the introduction of the MK II, Toshiba metal transistors began to be used. These were supplied by the manufacturer in sorted beta groups, which made matching much less critical... [the Toshiba metal case transistors] were also high quality, tightly matched, and designed specifically for audio amps. They were much better than the earlier RCA and Motorola outputs..."
I have since learned that the superior Toshiba output transistors can be identified by the name "MONDIAL" or "ARAGON" printed on the case of the transistor.
Mike Kusiak designed an upgrade to the 004 series amps, the upgraded amps went on sale on or around 1990. The earliest advertisements I've seen for them are in magazines dated in the last months of 1990. They were designated as "MK II" using a tag affixed to the rear panel. The older amps could be sent to the factory to be upgraded to the Mark II specification, there was a charge of "about" $265 for this service. The upgrade included detail changes to the circuit board, among them an upgraded bias system for the output transistors. When the supply of the Toshiba metal-case output transistors began to dry up, Mondial began design work on the 8000 series amplifiers.
(SORRY, I have NO CONTROL over the size of the photos.)
Tough to see in these small photos, but 004 has flat front plate.
4004 has heat sinks under the vented one-piece sheetmetal top and side panel.
My thanks to TheSoundWell for use of these photos of the 4004.
8000 series (except Palladium II and 1K)
An amplifier module (circuit board) was designed by Mike Kusiak (his initials are on the circuit boards) that would accept four, eight, or twelve output transistors per channel. The output transistors chosen were Toshiba plastic-case units, and early production units used Aragon-tested-and-matched transistor groups just like the 004 series before, even though matching these transistors is not as critical as matching the metal case units used in the 004 series amps because Toshiba supplied them as matched groups. Additional matching by Aragon was soon done away with..
"The Toshiba 2SA1302 and 2SC3281 are the plastic case transistors used in the Aragon 8000 series, the Klipsch 2000 and 3000 series, and all the Acurus amps. These were specifically designed for audio power amp use, and in my opinion are the finest bipolar output transistor made. They were expensive to manufacture, and Toshiba superseded them with the 2SA1943 and 2SC5200. These have a much smaller internal structure, poor matching, and are of generally lower quality. Toshiba tried to get us to switch to the newer transistors and sent a large number of samples which we used in building a few sample Acurus amps. It was impossible to accurately set the bias on these amps without individually matching the transistors. We therefore chose to continue with the original 2SA1302 and 2SC3281 by buying up existing inventories worldwide, even after they were no longer being manufactured by Toshiba. It is interesting to note that there is such a worldwide demand for these original transistors that they are actively being counterfeited. As far as I know, all Aragon amps, including the Klipsch built units were made with the original plastic case Toshiba 2SA1302 and 2SC3281 transistors."
Robbii made some changes to the "look" of the one and two-channel amps, as a result they are more substantial-feeling and looking. He retained the general shape of the 004 series, but the front panel is sculpted with a dividing groove machined into the aluminum. The top of the Palladium and 8008 amps have exposed heat sinks that make up the famous Aragon "V" notch, with sheetmetal panels comprising a side and part of the top on either side of the "V". Lower-powered 8002 amps do not have the V-notch. The three channel amps lack the Aragon V, and have the heat sinks on the left and right sides, and the rear panel. The five channel unit uses five heat sinks inside the large and heavy (107 lbs!!!) case. The X5 uses a decorative white triangle on the faceplate as a hint at the Aragon "V" notch.
The two channel 8000 series amps could have one or two power transformers. The 8002 (125 w/p/c/8, 4 output transistors per channel) and the 8008ST (200 w/p/c/8, 8 output transistors per channel) each used a single, dual-wound transformer--a 2000VA unit for the 8008ST. The 8008BB (and the 8008 MK II) used two, 1200VA transformers, double the capacitance in the power supply as the ST, and 12 output transistors per channel. Even so, they carried the same rated output as the 8008ST. The 8008 MK II has upgraded cosmetics that was similar to the later Aragon amps designed under Klipsch ownership.
Aragon produced three multi-channel amps, each of which used a single (but very large) transformer. This allows the channels to share the power supply. Therefore, energy from the power supply can be directed to channels needing "extra boost" while channels with small- or no-signal receive less energy. The 8008X3 and 8008X3B are three channel amps identical except the X3B uses balanced (XLR) input connectors in addition to conventional RCA jacks. A 2000VA transformer is used. The 8008X5 uses a 2500VA transformer shared among five channels, and like the X3B, it uses RCA and XLR input jacks. All these multi-channel amps are rated for 200 w/p/c/8 with all channels driven simultaneously. All of these use the "big dog" 12-transistor version of the amp module.
Fins of the 8008 are the actual heat sinks, with sheetmetal cover screwed down on either side.
Sculpted front plate, with dividing groove about 1/4 the way up from the bottom.
Palladiums (004 and 8000 series)
The Palladiums were Aragon's top-of-the-line units. They were mono amps, so you bought one for each channel, and they were mirror-imaged so the Aragon Notch on the top was toward one side for one channel, and toward the other side for the other channel. (No functional difference, but they looked neat side-by-side!) The Palladiums are a bridged version of the 2-channel Aragon amps. They were introduced based on the 004-series circuit board and cosmetics, so they used a flat front panel and metal-case output transistors. They used a single huge transformer, but that transformer produced a lower output voltage (50 volts vs. 80 volts) and more current than the stereo amps they were modeled on. The Palladium II is based on the 8000 series circuit board and cosmetics, so it had the sculpted front panel, plastic case output transistors, and exposed heat sinks just like the 8008. The Palladium 1K is a Palladium II with the newer Klipsch-style cosmetics. Original Palladiums were balanced (XLR) input only. The Palladium II and 1K could be ordered with either the XLR or RCA inputs--but NOT both inputs. The earliest Palladiums were marketed as "100 watts into 8 ohms, 600 watts into 4 ohms". This was misleading, as that "100 watts" referred to what was available with the output transistors still using Class A bias. The later units would output 125 watts in Class A. In fact, all of those units would output 400 w/p/c/8 when the transistors were biased into Class A/B. Later on, Aragon changed the marketing to reflect the higher A/B bias. The 600 w/p/c into 4 ohms was using A/B bias. (The amp does this automatically, you don't have any switches to turn. Plug 'n' play, as they say. Please also see my guide to Audio Power Amps: Channels & Output Device operation for information on Class A and Class A/B design)
Let me try to clear up an error I see creeping into some eBay auctions. The original Palladium (NOT the later Palladium II or Palladium 1K) has a flat front panel, and is based on the 4004 Mark II. ALL original Palladiums have the sort of modifications that the 4004 Mark II has, along with the superior Toshiba metal-case transistors as described in the 004 section above. Some sellers are billing the original Palladium as a "Mark I" which is somewhat correct, in that it was built before the Palladium II; but some sellers claim the original Palladium is a "Mark II" because it has the same upgrades as a 4004 Mark II. SO--If it has a flat front panel, it's an "original" Palladium using the same architecture as the 4004 Mark II. If the Palladium in question has either of the later sculpted front panels; it's based on the 8000-series architecture including the plastic-case output transistors.
Put another way--Mondial never called the original, flat-front-panel Palladium a "Mark I" or a "Mark II", therefore both terms are incorrect. It was just a Palladium. The newer units were based on the 8000-series, and called the Palladium II and the Palladium 1K.
Original Palladium--flat front plate.
Palladium II has same sculpted front plate as 8008 series, but more of a silver color rather than black.
Palladium 1K, the 8008 Mk II is similar. Also available in silver finish.
Miscellaneous facts:
Aragon has used several facilities for the actual manufacture of their products. Early amps were built in Connecticut, later ones in California.
The 8000 series seem to run hotter than the 004 series. My thermometer shows that an 8008BB typically runs about 110 degrees at low volume. The 8000 series uses greater bias for the output transistors leading to higher output while still in Class A mode. Don't be concerned, the 004 series will throw considerable power in Class A..
A 4004 or 2004 can be bridged (using a special procedure) to make a "Palladium Wanna-Be", but because the rail voltage is higher than a "real" Palladium, it is easier to burn out the amp. The 8008 cannot be bridged according to my contact at Klipsch.
Any of the 004 or 8000 series amps seem to be both very reliable and very heavy.
Aragon products were used by the Smithsonian Museum of American History, so that a display of musical instruments could be heard as well as seen. However, that museum is currently closed for renovation.
If you've found this guide helpful, please give me a "Yes" vote by clicking the button below. If you have suggestions for improvement, you can contact me through the "My Messages" feature of eBay. Click on my user name at the top of this page, then click on "Contact Member". Thanks, all!
Entire contents copyright (C) 2007, 2008 Camino3X2 Feel free to LINK to this Guide in your auctions.
Please note that I am indebted to Mike Kusiak for supplying me with quotable e-mails providing me with additional information and a few corrections. His contributions are in italics. I also wish to thank Steve Donalson, Adam Gershon, and Steve Phillips at Klipsch for answering my questions in the Klipsch Forums.
A guide for Aragon Pre-amps and Home Theater Processors ; and for Aragon Source Components is also hosted here at eBay.
The Aragon amps discussed here are the 004 series and the 8000 series:
4004 and 4004 MK II (200 watts per channel into 8 ohm)
2004 and 2004 MK II (100 w/p/c/8) (Don't confuse this one with the later 2002, 2005, and 2007 amps)
Palladium (a mono, balanced-input version of the 4004. 400w/p/c/8, 600w/p/c/4)
8008ST (a single transformer replacement for the 4004, at 200 w/p/c/8 using RCA input only.)
8008BB (a double-transformer replacement for the 4004, at 200 w/p/c/8 using both RCA or balanced inputs, selectively.)
8002 (a replacement for the 2004, at 125 w/p/c/8, and based on the 8008ST)
8008X3 (a three channel version of the 8008 with RCA input)
8008X3B (an 8008X3 with both RCA or balanced inputs, selectively.)
8008X5 (a five channel version of the 8008 using both RCA or balanced inputs, selectively.)
Palladium II (a mono, balanced or RCA input version of the 8008. 400w/p/c/8, 600w/p/c/4)
8008 MK II (Identical to the 8008BB, but with upgraded "Klipsch" cosmetics)
Palladium 1K (Identical to the Palladium II, but with upgraded "Klipsch" cosmetics.)
004 series (except Palladium)
The first Aragon amplifier products were the 4004, and it's little brother the 2004. The 4004/2004's electrical design was widely reported to be the work of Dan D'Agostino of Krell. Mr. D'Agostino was credited in various magazines as being responsible for 1) Circuit design of the early Aragon components; 2) Parts selection; and 3) Development of the Quality Assurance program for Mondial Designs. This may--or may not--be true, but it is NOT confirmed by Mondial or Klipsch. The Industrial Design (the way the product looks, and to some extent, the internal parts layout) is the work of Robbii Wessen, as evidenced by the name "Robbii" silkscreened on the back panels. Robbii performed the industrial design for the Aragon and Acurus product line up until the Klipsch takeover. The 4004 and 2004 share chassis and general layout--the front panels are a flat plate, and the top and sides are formed from a single sheet of steel, perforated over the internal heat sinks which are below the famous "V" notch on the top. The 2004 uses fewer output transistors, and a single, dual-wound transformer while the 4004 has two transformers. The 4004 was named because it could output 400 watts into a 4-ohm load, thus 400-4 which became 4004. The 2004 is rated at exactly half the output of the 4004, 100 watts into 8 ohms, 200 into 4 ohms. Don't be fooled, the power supply of either amp is quite huge in relation to it's rated output. The output transistors are individually tested and matched. There are 8 output transistors per channel on the 4004, four for the positive side of the waveform, and four for the negative side. Each group of four transistors will be matched. Same goes for the 2004, except half as many transistors are used. The output transistors are metal case units.
"The original metal case outputs [output transistors] of the 4004 were made by RCA or Motorola. Because of the great variability of the Vbe and Beta characteristics of these transistors, matching was essential. Without matching, one or more of the parallel connected output transistors would conduct all of the bias current, leaving the others off. Later, before the introduction of the MK II, Toshiba metal transistors began to be used. These were supplied by the manufacturer in sorted beta groups, which made matching much less critical... [the Toshiba metal case transistors] were also high quality, tightly matched, and designed specifically for audio amps. They were much better than the earlier RCA and Motorola outputs..."
I have since learned that the superior Toshiba output transistors can be identified by the name "MONDIAL" or "ARAGON" printed on the case of the transistor.
Mike Kusiak designed an upgrade to the 004 series amps, the upgraded amps went on sale on or around 1990. The earliest advertisements I've seen for them are in magazines dated in the last months of 1990. They were designated as "MK II" using a tag affixed to the rear panel. The older amps could be sent to the factory to be upgraded to the Mark II specification, there was a charge of "about" $265 for this service. The upgrade included detail changes to the circuit board, among them an upgraded bias system for the output transistors. When the supply of the Toshiba metal-case output transistors began to dry up, Mondial began design work on the 8000 series amplifiers.
(SORRY, I have NO CONTROL over the size of the photos.)
Tough to see in these small photos, but 004 has flat front plate.
4004 has heat sinks under the vented one-piece sheetmetal top and side panel.
My thanks to TheSoundWell for use of these photos of the 4004.
8000 series (except Palladium II and 1K)
An amplifier module (circuit board) was designed by Mike Kusiak (his initials are on the circuit boards) that would accept four, eight, or twelve output transistors per channel. The output transistors chosen were Toshiba plastic-case units, and early production units used Aragon-tested-and-matched transistor groups just like the 004 series before, even though matching these transistors is not as critical as matching the metal case units used in the 004 series amps because Toshiba supplied them as matched groups. Additional matching by Aragon was soon done away with..
"The Toshiba 2SA1302 and 2SC3281 are the plastic case transistors used in the Aragon 8000 series, the Klipsch 2000 and 3000 series, and all the Acurus amps. These were specifically designed for audio power amp use, and in my opinion are the finest bipolar output transistor made. They were expensive to manufacture, and Toshiba superseded them with the 2SA1943 and 2SC5200. These have a much smaller internal structure, poor matching, and are of generally lower quality. Toshiba tried to get us to switch to the newer transistors and sent a large number of samples which we used in building a few sample Acurus amps. It was impossible to accurately set the bias on these amps without individually matching the transistors. We therefore chose to continue with the original 2SA1302 and 2SC3281 by buying up existing inventories worldwide, even after they were no longer being manufactured by Toshiba. It is interesting to note that there is such a worldwide demand for these original transistors that they are actively being counterfeited. As far as I know, all Aragon amps, including the Klipsch built units were made with the original plastic case Toshiba 2SA1302 and 2SC3281 transistors."
Robbii made some changes to the "look" of the one and two-channel amps, as a result they are more substantial-feeling and looking. He retained the general shape of the 004 series, but the front panel is sculpted with a dividing groove machined into the aluminum. The top of the Palladium and 8008 amps have exposed heat sinks that make up the famous Aragon "V" notch, with sheetmetal panels comprising a side and part of the top on either side of the "V". Lower-powered 8002 amps do not have the V-notch. The three channel amps lack the Aragon V, and have the heat sinks on the left and right sides, and the rear panel. The five channel unit uses five heat sinks inside the large and heavy (107 lbs!!!) case. The X5 uses a decorative white triangle on the faceplate as a hint at the Aragon "V" notch.
The two channel 8000 series amps could have one or two power transformers. The 8002 (125 w/p/c/8, 4 output transistors per channel) and the 8008ST (200 w/p/c/8, 8 output transistors per channel) each used a single, dual-wound transformer--a 2000VA unit for the 8008ST. The 8008BB (and the 8008 MK II) used two, 1200VA transformers, double the capacitance in the power supply as the ST, and 12 output transistors per channel. Even so, they carried the same rated output as the 8008ST. The 8008 MK II has upgraded cosmetics that was similar to the later Aragon amps designed under Klipsch ownership.
Aragon produced three multi-channel amps, each of which used a single (but very large) transformer. This allows the channels to share the power supply. Therefore, energy from the power supply can be directed to channels needing "extra boost" while channels with small- or no-signal receive less energy. The 8008X3 and 8008X3B are three channel amps identical except the X3B uses balanced (XLR) input connectors in addition to conventional RCA jacks. A 2000VA transformer is used. The 8008X5 uses a 2500VA transformer shared among five channels, and like the X3B, it uses RCA and XLR input jacks. All these multi-channel amps are rated for 200 w/p/c/8 with all channels driven simultaneously. All of these use the "big dog" 12-transistor version of the amp module.
Fins of the 8008 are the actual heat sinks, with sheetmetal cover screwed down on either side.
Sculpted front plate, with dividing groove about 1/4 the way up from the bottom.
Palladiums (004 and 8000 series)
The Palladiums were Aragon's top-of-the-line units. They were mono amps, so you bought one for each channel, and they were mirror-imaged so the Aragon Notch on the top was toward one side for one channel, and toward the other side for the other channel. (No functional difference, but they looked neat side-by-side!) The Palladiums are a bridged version of the 2-channel Aragon amps. They were introduced based on the 004-series circuit board and cosmetics, so they used a flat front panel and metal-case output transistors. They used a single huge transformer, but that transformer produced a lower output voltage (50 volts vs. 80 volts) and more current than the stereo amps they were modeled on. The Palladium II is based on the 8000 series circuit board and cosmetics, so it had the sculpted front panel, plastic case output transistors, and exposed heat sinks just like the 8008. The Palladium 1K is a Palladium II with the newer Klipsch-style cosmetics. Original Palladiums were balanced (XLR) input only. The Palladium II and 1K could be ordered with either the XLR or RCA inputs--but NOT both inputs. The earliest Palladiums were marketed as "100 watts into 8 ohms, 600 watts into 4 ohms". This was misleading, as that "100 watts" referred to what was available with the output transistors still using Class A bias. The later units would output 125 watts in Class A. In fact, all of those units would output 400 w/p/c/8 when the transistors were biased into Class A/B. Later on, Aragon changed the marketing to reflect the higher A/B bias. The 600 w/p/c into 4 ohms was using A/B bias. (The amp does this automatically, you don't have any switches to turn. Plug 'n' play, as they say. Please also see my guide to Audio Power Amps: Channels & Output Device operation for information on Class A and Class A/B design)
Let me try to clear up an error I see creeping into some eBay auctions. The original Palladium (NOT the later Palladium II or Palladium 1K) has a flat front panel, and is based on the 4004 Mark II. ALL original Palladiums have the sort of modifications that the 4004 Mark II has, along with the superior Toshiba metal-case transistors as described in the 004 section above. Some sellers are billing the original Palladium as a "Mark I" which is somewhat correct, in that it was built before the Palladium II; but some sellers claim the original Palladium is a "Mark II" because it has the same upgrades as a 4004 Mark II. SO--If it has a flat front panel, it's an "original" Palladium using the same architecture as the 4004 Mark II. If the Palladium in question has either of the later sculpted front panels; it's based on the 8000-series architecture including the plastic-case output transistors.
Put another way--Mondial never called the original, flat-front-panel Palladium a "Mark I" or a "Mark II", therefore both terms are incorrect. It was just a Palladium. The newer units were based on the 8000-series, and called the Palladium II and the Palladium 1K.
Original Palladium--flat front plate.
Palladium II has same sculpted front plate as 8008 series, but more of a silver color rather than black.
Palladium 1K, the 8008 Mk II is similar. Also available in silver finish.
Miscellaneous facts:
Aragon has used several facilities for the actual manufacture of their products. Early amps were built in Connecticut, later ones in California.
The 8000 series seem to run hotter than the 004 series. My thermometer shows that an 8008BB typically runs about 110 degrees at low volume. The 8000 series uses greater bias for the output transistors leading to higher output while still in Class A mode. Don't be concerned, the 004 series will throw considerable power in Class A..
A 4004 or 2004 can be bridged (using a special procedure) to make a "Palladium Wanna-Be", but because the rail voltage is higher than a "real" Palladium, it is easier to burn out the amp. The 8008 cannot be bridged according to my contact at Klipsch.
Any of the 004 or 8000 series amps seem to be both very reliable and very heavy.
Aragon products were used by the Smithsonian Museum of American History, so that a display of musical instruments could be heard as well as seen. However, that museum is currently closed for renovation.
If you've found this guide helpful, please give me a "Yes" vote by clicking the button below. If you have suggestions for improvement, you can contact me through the "My Messages" feature of eBay. Click on my user name at the top of this page, then click on "Contact Member". Thanks, all!
Entire contents copyright (C) 2007, 2008 Camino3X2 Feel free to LINK to this Guide in your auctions.
Guide created: 06/08/06 (updated 07/23/08)
Thank you for voting. If your vote meets our 
