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Bryston or Aragon

My son is a music lover like I am.  He plays bass and dabbles in audio recording.  Well he’s all grown up now and has his own family and home and he has decided to leave his Yamaha receiver behind and stick his toe into the world of hi fi.  He needs a power amp.  He has done his research, browsed audiogon and talked with me and has decided on either a Bryston 4BST or an Aragon 8008BB.  Both are within his budget on the used market.  Initially the amp will be paired up with an Adcom GFP 555 (I think), a Technics turntable, some kind of CD player and my old Polk SDA 1A speakers.  If you have had experience with either of these amps please share your thoughts. I know there are other options that might fit the bill but he is firm on these two.  Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
128x128pipebro
tazz2
6 posts
 
Aragon 8008BB was their Top Tier (Mondial) Dual Mono amp (sharing only the power cord) with Balanced Inputs and a MASSIVE POWER SUPPLY compared to the 8008ST, and mainly or wholly designed by thee Dan DAgostino for Mondial. It's a killer amp and was highly reviewed--warm,yes--tight full bass--NO treble roll off... Highly recommend if reasonably priced !
tazz2
6 posts
 

alaric62
80 posts
 
" The older Bryston are very fast and high resolution, but can sound a bit dry and sterile."

This^. "Clinical" was a common term. Depending on the speakers (don't know about the Polks in question, I don't care for the Polk house sound) the difference can be a real deal breaker. For me, the Bryston paints a perfect reproduction of music-the Aragon plays the music.
asw
11 posts
 
I have the next model in Aragon the palladium monoblocks.i had the 8008bb before that.for over 20 years no problems built like a tank.my aurum preamp was recaped recently and my repair guy said he could upgrade my amps.the output rectifiers were replaced with the same ones that mark levinson uses. He is a authorized dealer. The upgrade left me speechless. So long story short they can be repaired or upgraded. 
terry9
2,333 posts
 
Owned three Bryston amps before I began to DIY. Recommend them highly - good, bullet-proof design, good implementation, unbelievably good customer relations and service.

Bryston is one of the best companies out there.
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