I am picky about this, any suggestions???

"So I am wondering if Aragon is all its made out to be?
If someone could please answer that question for me"

Within the context of you and your system you have already answered you question, and, in turn, your finding begs the question of your system. Do not yet concern yourself with the opinions of refrenceless individuals in terms of quality as they currently have no reference to your ears or your system.

ohlala is right.
also, mccormack might be an upgrade over the adcom. but don't expect miracles; synergy is the key. without knowing the rest of your system or musical tastes or room size, etc., it's hard to make recommendations.
also if you really need 250 watts per channel then be prepared to spend more than $2k to get significantly better sound at the power level.
Often, a lower specification will sound better most of the time. For example, a superbly designed 25 watt solid state amplifier (like the Aleph 30 or some such) will sound better than the adcom, but only if the rest of the system is capable of revealing the differences!!

I would check out the Ayre V-3 power amplifier (should be able to get one on the net with all upgrades for about $1900) and the conrad-johnson PFR preamp(about $1100 used). These pieces together are VERY musical (if that is what you are looking for).

Happy hunting.

I'm thinking that there is either a high quantity of system synergy and / or personal preference going on within VBA's situation. As such, Ohlala's comments are probably right on the money.

My experience with the 5800 was that it was not that hard to beat. I think that even Adcom might admit this, as they came out with the 5802 relatively quickly after the 5800 was introduced. Sean
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