October 2025

V NOTCH — What is it good for?

It adorns every Aragon amplifier and it is as useful just as much as it is iconic. At shows, folks spot them from far off and tell us stories of how robust their old gen Aragon gear was. 

So besides being iconic, how is it purposeful?

Airflow

The v-notch gives us the ability to put the amplifier in a rack or under a shelf with less concern of overheating. It's equivalent to having more space above the amplifier and below the shelf for objects above it. 

Consistent thermal envelope 

With every amplifier, whether it’s a stereo amp or a monoblock, there should be consistent temperature from each channel. When the channel cards help each other maintain consistent temperature this is a thermal envelope. This care in engineering is absolutely necessary for maintaining a consistent bias from either the right to left channel or each side of a BTL monoblock. The other folks out there will separate their left and right channel cards and have the power supply in the middle of the amplifier. This is not ideal for creating a consistent bias from channel to channel. Sharing a thermal envelope is the right way, and although it costs more to make it this way, our engineers are happy to not cut corners. 

Longevity

How? Simple, most amplifiers are a box with vents in the top that slowly fill with dust. If you look down the fins of one of our amplifiers you will see right through it to the shelf or whatever it is sitting on. 

This is a glorious innovation as dust does not stay entrapped. It simply is able to fall through and not significantly build up on the fins. 

Summary

So yes, it's iconic but it's also important. Everything we do has a purpose and is meant to bring you maximum listening pleasure.