old Aragon vs new

With the exception of the Stage One and the multi-channel amps - the most recent products are sueperior to the older stuff.
The difference is in the price. It is a price/performance thing. The older Aragon stuff has been greatly discounted on the used market and people recognize the sound as being much better than what they can get for their hard-earned dollar elsewhere.
The anomoly is the Soundstage/Stage One. The Soundstage is generally considered to be superior sonically (albeit without the additional functionality of the Stage One - but only in some respects).
The holy grail is a Soundstage that has been upgraded with the 7.1 option...
Some have compared it to the Proceed AVP2 as far as the quality of the sound. Both of these items are long in tooth but highly regarded by nuts like us.

As far as amps, the monoblock Palladium 1K is electrically identical to the Palladium II but the II can be had more cheaply - both are superior to the Palladium (I). The 8008BB is an awesome amp and superior to the previous versions - but it still makes a serious dent in your wallet.
HTH

The old ones were made from Mondial and the new ones are from Klipsch. I happen to have an Aragon preamp and four amps, one 4004 and three 8008 amps. All are older and I am definitely a cult follower. If you are interested, I will sell you one, but only if you say it will go to a good home, as I've become emotionally attached to it.

I was emotionally attached to my Stage One, until I had to unplug and reset it at least weekly. The older Mondial Aragon equipment has a reputation for reliability that the newer units do not have. Some of the older models has been in use for many years with no problems. Like owning a vintage truck that never breaks down, like my 4 Runner. You sorta get attached to it.

I'd say it depends on what you mean by "current" Aragons.

The original Aragon amps were the 004 series--4004 and 2004, and the original Palladiums. Metal case transistors (the later amps had the better Toshiba metal case transistors instead of RCA/Motorola. The 004 series was introduced in the late '80's but was still current into the early/mid '90's.

The next generation was the 8000 series--8008ST, 8008BB, Palladium II, 2008, 8008X3, 8008X5. Plastic case output transistors (also made by Toshiba) and somewhat nicer-looking than the 004 series.

Klipsch took over the company in Y2K, the "guts" stayed the same but the chassis was made more fancy. No difference in sound or circuitry. So the 8008 Mk II is just a re-packaged 8008BB, and the Palladium 1K is a re-packaged Palladium II.

The MOST CURRENT stuff is the 2000 and 3000 series--2002, 2005, 2007, 3002, 3005. This stuff has NOWHERE NEAR the current delivery capacity; and is not deeply biased into Class A operation like the older product. It's more like Acurus than Aragon, but it was sold under the Aragon name.

ALL Aragon product has been discontinued; there is one dealer I know of that still has some remaining new product.

http://reviews.ebay.com/Classic-Aragon-Amps-A-primer_W0QQugidZ10000000001149810