Jungle Jack

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Hello,
I truly think the 8008BB represents one of the great amplification values of all time. Over the years, I have owned a 4004 MKII, 8002, 8008ST, 8008X3, and the 8008BB. Aside from the Palladiums, even in this exalted company, note of them compare.

Much of this is due to the dual 1.1 kVa toroidal transformers and twice the capacitance of the 8008ST (140,000u vs 70,000). Many highly regarded 5 channels amplifiers power supplies do not even come close to this. Add exceptional build quality and being made in America and you have a classic.

The only thing I can say negative about it are the relatively low budget binding posts. If using a tough to drive speaker, you have just found manna.
Cheers,
John

rangeroo22

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I previously owned a Plinius SA 100 MKIII and I must say it was my all time favorite amp,that is until the Aragon. The 8008BB does many of the same things well that the Plinius did. Great female vocals,tremendous layering of soundstage,very musical midrange. Where the Aragon really excels though,is decay of notes produced by piano and cymbals,a viselike grip on low end bass notes,and DEPTH of soundstage If you have the ability to get your speakers away from the rear wall, this amp is unmatched in my experience, for front to back depth of soundstage layering... The minute details of your recordings will come through like NEVER before! Class "A" first 26 watts,A/B after that.This is a great amp for all types of music because of the incredible seperation and "air" between different entities in the recordings.Runs quite hot after full warmup (not quite as hot as the Plinius though).The one thing that may be misconstrued as a "weakness" of this amp is the awesome accuracy.Crap in,crap out,if you know what I mean. The reallly good part though,is great sound in,great sound out... Overall,a GREAT VALUE,especially at $1200-$1500 on the used market,nothing in the same league for the used price.

Price Paid:  $2000.00 from store

Summary:
I Love this Amp, after searching years for an affordable yet powerful amp I found this used and bought it with one listen. The amp is on the warmish side but does not hold anything back in terms of clarity or detail, bass if full and imageing is first rate.

Strengths:
Everything, sweet, clear, warm music

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
Audio Reseach, Bryston,

Price Paid:  $1525.00 from audiogon

Summary:
This is actually a review of the Aragon 8008 MK II, but since it does not exist on this site yet I will put it here under the unit that it replaces the 8008BB. Well I own a Sony TA-E9000ES and 3 TA-N330ES 300 watt mono amps. I have had these Sonys for 10 years, but a few weeks ago I blew up the two fronts by shorting the speaker wires between the two amps... apparently this was too much for the protections and bam, bye bye Sonys. We I then so I bought a B&K Reference 3220 with three channels at 220 watts each. It was a step up from the Sonys but barely... I am not sure I would have been able to tell the difference in a blind test... maybe, the B&K was better but it was subtle. I really had to listen for a difference (one of my sonys still works so I was able to compare a lot.... as long as it was not worse than my sonys I was happy, I did not thing an amp could be much better anyway). Then one of the B&K channels dropped its power output by quite a bit... making it softer than the other channels, I could get it to fix itself if I hit the side of the cabinet, but it eventually would vibrate itself back to a slightly muted state (even at low volume levels). Must be a loose output transister or something? I was very sad because the B&K Reference 3220 is discontinued and I got a great deal on it, so I am going to return it. But it turns out that luck was in my favor, otherwise I would never have found the Aragon 8008MK II. The difference really is STUNNING. No doubt which amp is better! The Aragon just blows away the B&K amp. No contest. I had no idea an amp could make this much difference in the sound, and I honestly had thought that in this day and age all decent amps are pretty close to each other. I was wrong. This amp was like lifting a viel that had been over my music for 10 years! There is no way this amp is just 200 watts per channel. Talk about conservative rating! It blows my supposedly 300 watts per channel sonys away, not to mention the B&K at 220 watts. I now wonder what other upgrades I should do that I "thought" would not really make much difference. Regards, Sean

Strengths:
Supreme dynamics, clarity, bass, you name it, I cannot imagine an amp sounding any better than this!

Weaknesses:
None!

Similar Products Used:
Sony ES, B&K

Price Paid:  $2700.00 from Audio Outlet, NY

Summary:
A lot of great things have been said about this amp. As far as I am concerned, this praise is deserved. To my ears, the 8008BB is a perfect power source: uncolored, muscular, and just lively enough to avoid sounding, well, lifeless. I’d even go so far as to say that to call the 8008 BB a giant-killer is to do it a disservice: It’s probably the amp of choice in many high-end systems (it is in mine) -- and deservedly so, at that. I use it to drive a pair of Avalon Eidolons. I chose it over a handful of other models, including Krell (FPB-650), Pass (X250) and Spectral (DMA-360). Full disclosure: After plunking down $17,000 on a pair of Eidolons, I was understandably in a bargain-hunting frame of mind when it came to shopping for a power amplifier. Nevertheless, there was no way in Hades that I was going to skimp by pairing my Eidolons with a power source. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even think of auditioning the inexpensive 8008BB until a dealer suggested it to me. I had been singularly unimpressed with the Krell FPB-650, and he speculated that I might find the sound of the Aragon amp more agreeable. Now, I’d heard that Krell’s Dan D’Agostino designed the 8008BB, so I’ve got to admit that I was surprised when I found its sound much less hard and solid-state-like than the FPB-650 mono blocks. At home, in my listening room and in my system, it literally blew me away. The experience was akin to when I first brought the Eidolons home and plugged them into my existing system (see below, with McCormack DNA-125 power amplifier): I heard music in an altogether new way. In the case of the Eidolons, I learned what imaging and breath-taking realism could sound like. In the case of the Aragon, I heard what music uncolored by a power amplifier with “character” could sound like. The final choice came down to the 8008BB and the Spectral mono blocks. I made it largely based on price alone: The sound of both amps when playing through the Eidolons – though distinctly different – was euphonious. The Spectral was more lively than the Aragon, which helped to improve the sound of poor recordings, I think. Its sound was also warmer than that of the 8008BB, which, in most rooms, helps to compensate for the very slightly analytical sound of the Eidolons. That’s not to say that the 8008BB didn’t sound warm, however. In fact, the Aragon struck me as the more musically accurate of the two amplifiers, and – here’s the clincher – was the imaging champ with the world-class imaging of the Eidolons. Compare the $2,700 price tag of the 8008BB with the $14,500 that a dealer wanted for a pair of DMA-360s, and I think the case was pretty solid. By the way, I hope that my experience doesn’t lead you to conclude that the Aragon is a better amp than the Spectral. I’m just saying that I preferred its sound when paired with my Eidolons. Your mileage may vary. Considerably, at that. A couple of other things, this amp runs hot – its first 25 (or is it 30?) watts are Class A, so it tends to dissipate a lot of heat when idling. It’s a monster, as well, and easily drives my (relatively) demanding Eidolons. I think it can master almost any loudspeaker on the market today. I also think that its sound – neutral and life-like – is a good complement for most loudspeakers. Again, your mileage may vary, but the 8008BB is one heckuva power amplifier. System Avalon Eidolon (quilted cherry veneer) Aragon 8008BB No pre-amp – just single-ended attenuator pairs in 5 dB steps Sonic Frontiers SFT-1 transport Dodson 217 Mk II DAC All cables by MIT

Strengths:
Neutral, just lively enough so that it's not lifeless; powerful as heck. Possibly as close to unvarnished sound as you can get in an amplifier. If this is what you're looking for, great. If you want an amp with "character," however, you'd be better off looking at tubes.

Weaknesses:
Binding posts. Horrible design. Using some spades, it's probably possible to short the two posts. Don't know why Aragon didn't design these more intelligently.

Similar Products Used:
Krell FPB-650, Pass X250, Spectral DMA-360