A very good amp that does everything right from a-z is the Aragon. It is made by Mondial, the same company that has their fingers in Mark Levinson and Proceed. Top notch quality with bullet proof equipment. You could drop this unit off the roof of your house and it would still play. Very musical, tremendous soundstage, detail, transparency, and the one thing that lacks in most systems, bass! Being a former Krell owner, my experience is that the Aragon has just as much slam as the over glorified Krells! The Aragons make you get involved in the music! You find yourself reviving old cds and hearing things that you did not hear in your discs before. I have been an audio pig in the past and I have owned quite a sh*tload of equipment always thinking that one is better than the other! In the preamp department,Mark Levinson, Jeff Rowland, Audio Research, Conrad Johnson, Cary, and so on. All are good preamps. A lot depends on what type of music that you are listening to. I like to listen to Jazz, so I listen for air, detail, soundstaging and imaging. I am presently usiing an Audio Research LS15 preamp. I always wanted to try tubed preamps and I found this puppy in the pawn shop for $600!! Prior to that, I was using a Jeff Rowland Consonance. No matter what you mate the Rowland with, it will sound good. Even though not a tube, it, in my opinion, beats out the Audio Research. Musical truth is what the Rowland produces. In my opinion, the Aragon is the best bang for the buck. Read the reviews in audioreview.com. Good Luck1
