A difference between First Sound Presence products


I am pondering what is are the sonic differences between the First Sound Presence Deluxe Mark I and Mark IIs. Can any proud and former owners of both describe the sonical differences between both?
I am wondering if should I upgrade from one to another, or would I better better off investing the upgrade money on another preamp that will compare or outshine the Mark IIs (expected cost of upgrade ranges up to 2k.)
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
bemopti123
Well, the promised response. This preamp is the real deal. It is a system altering event! Detailed with , micro, macro dynamics, textures and timbres are right on target. That old story about getting out new cd's to hear them for the first time...but its true.
The soundstage is as deep as the Pacific Ocean, with amazing clarity. I have to tell one favorite story.
I personally love some of the old Capitol Recordings from the late '50's and early '60s, you know, the era, when then engineers hadn't discovered all the "knobs" on the control panel.
Dean Martin's Capitol Years, Disc one cut 13, he is singing live in L. A I think, (even though Vegas was is second home then.) The piano, was still far behind him, to his right, but now it has its own exciting personality; it sounds like an older piano, with the middle keys out of tune slightly. The orchestra, as part of Dean's schtick, comes in FFFF, when F is expected, (that's forte, times four) so incredibly disproportionaltely loud. The trumpets are loud, but (much louder than before) but not harsh or blaring, they hold together harmonically. Joey Bishop's laugh is five feet beyond my right speaker, and ten feet back. THIS PREAMP IS NEUTRAL, NATURAL. Voices aren't artificially large to give it more excitement or a sense of smoothness, they are proportionate to scale. This pre, sounds like the world's best pass through, with invisible interconnects, but is not limited dynamically like the Passives are. Quite the contrary it is a dynamic monster.
One other thing. My VS 4HSE's go flat to below 20 hz, my current room, is alcoved behind the speakers, causing a bass bump. Beyond that every other piece of electronics, sounded, uhhh, blumpy. One note ish.(Ogden Nash look out, I'm gaining on you). This pre takes that single note and makes it full register with full textures. Wonderfully tonal bass, and frankly the best I have heard.
Years ago, I sold CJ, Premier 3's with Eagle 2A Amps, (where is John Ivorson??) with great success, and while disproportionate, seemingly, a 595. amp with a 3K Preamp, but it was great. My feeling here is, that an inexpensive Rotel or like amp, with this pre, could be "MAGIC", it's that good. So if you want a great, GREAT preamp, run to Emmanuel Go and order one. Oh, by the way, the sound stage is blacker than Indian ink. Marvelous, in every way. Plus I haven't even tried better tubes, which is supposed to make it better. That, folks is hard to imagine.
Thanks, if you held in there and read all.
Larry R. Staples
Wow. Thank you for one of the best, non-press related descriptions of the First Sound Presence. It is very hard to find reviews of Emmanuel's products anywhere, except the one glowing Soundstage review of 2 years ago. It seems to be that First Sound products can best those of more known or publicized manufactures (Lamm, or even CAT.) As I have suspected, it will soon enough so that I will be able to save enough for a FS, either upgrade or new. No need to settle for lesser gear and be disappointed.

PAUL
Hi Lrsky I know exactly what you speak of, the preamp has a very serious musical ability with a shocking soundstage. I have an nos tube that competes with Emmanuels favorite tube the siemens gold pin. It is the philips 8223/e288cc special quality gold pin tube, it images out of this world in that preamp. When I sold my preamp{ i bought a wadia 15i}it had the same set of tubes in it. The new owner felt that this tube was definitely better than the stock that came with it. When I put this tube in my jaw nearly fell off with size of the soundstage and the pin point imaging. This tube is very neutral in its sound and has a lot of air around things. Well good listening and e-mail if you are interested Dennis