Is the Hegel H-20 better than the Parasound A-21?

Closer examination of the Aragon 8008 MKII interior shows that the parts placement and layout looks like somebody stuffed the trunk of a '56 Buick blindfolded. Sloppy work the way things are stacked on each other. If Aragon would get rid of that ugly "V" metal cut on the faceplate and heat sink would make for a better cavity interior for more layout room. Never did like that 1930's retro Sci-Fi look. The layout in the Parasound and Hegel is very nice.

I sold Aragon in the ninties the new amps are way better then any of their original amplifiers.

The Hegel products are way over rated, their new Dacs are good but their $2,500.00 HD 25 is not even close in terms of sound quality or features than the Auralic Vega which is only $1K more.

The new Chord Qute HD at $1,800.00 is also way better than the Hegel dacs, way too much marketing on their website rather than real innovation.

So with Hegel it depends on the product, not every thing they make is great.

I attended the 2013 NY Audio Show and I agree with Audiooracle's description of the Aragon 8008 sound. The room featuring this amp had lots of people visiting multiple times. That room, along with the Martin Logan/Krell room, had the best sound by far on that floor. The sound performance easily surpasses the price tag of this amp and the entire system. The rest of the system was the Neo-Classic 300B RC Preamplifier, Waterfall's Victoria Evo glass speakers with Wireworld 7 cables.

AudioZen, that's not the complete story. Acurus and Aragon's parent company was Mondial. Mondial was sold to the Klipsch Group in 2001 and they never did anything with the brands. Rick Santiago left Klipsch and founded Indy Audio Labs, which acquired Aragon and Acurus from the Klipsch Group. The brands were dormant for years, but it seems that the person leading the two brands now has always been involved with these amps.

Dear Audiozen,

First of all are you judging a company by their history or sound quality? The new Aragon amplifiers are very well built and very well designed and constructed, I don't think you saw a current picture of the amplifier.

The look of the Aragon is quite stunning and in a rack looks far more beautiful than a Parasound or Hegel.

I never said Hegel products don't sound good they do, but they are not the end all and be all that they are being purported to be, they do have a great website full of technical ramblings that speak more of marketing than of actual circuit design.

You are right the website of Indy is terrible but they are a new company and they are working on it.

I have been comparing digital front ends and the Hegel stuff gets creamed by the other brands that I sell, namely the new Chord Qute HD and the Auralic Vega.

I am not saying that the Hegel stuff isn't very good sounding and well made, I am saying I have found the new Aragon to be a really fantastic amplifier and a best buy for costing $1,400.00 less and having a more beautiful midrange to boot, caveat emptor.

Isanchez..thanks for the very informative historical background on Aragon and Acurus. I remember when they were part of Mondial and I assume their amps have improved sonically since then. The reviews back in the 90's were a mixed bag. The main criticism at the time was their amps had a cold, hard upper treble that was overbearing and the amps lacked warmth.