Klipsch purchased selected assets of the privately held Mondial Designs Ltd. in 2001, acquiring the Aragon and Acurus brands of high-end amplifiers, preamplifiers and processors. Now, the leading global manufacturer of loudspeakers is selling the rights to these electronics brands to two former Klipsch employees.

Klipsch pulled the plug on Aragon and Acurus, which were highly successful value-oriented brands in the 1980's. The Aragon 4004, designed in part by Krell's Dan D'Agostonio, is considered to be one of the single best power amps built in audiophile history when considering dollar for dollar and Watt for Watt value. As the specialty audio business moved from two-channel to surround sound, many mighty brands failed to make the transition including Adcom, Acurus and Aragon. These brands today still have tremendous brand name value just as Marantz did as Philips (and later D&M) found out. With the right value and feature sets, Aragon and Acurus could possibly see a return to glory.

Former Klipsch electronics engineers Rick Santiago and Ted Moore plan to make just such a run with Aragon and Acurus. These two industry veterans, with 36 years of experience combined, have co-founded a new independent startup company called Indy Audio Labs, LLC and plan on developing and marketing new products under the Aragon and Acurus names. Indy Audio Labs will also assume full responsibility for the ongoing service and support of existing Aragon and Acurus products.

Effective May 18, when people call the Aragon tech support line at (866) 781-7284 or the Aragon service line at (914) 693-8008, they will automatically be forwarded to Indy Audio Labs. Additional support information can be found at indyaudiolabs.com.