Well, I have not auditioned the First Sound Presence Deluxe Mk II preamp, but I do have the Ayre K-1xe preamp, with the optional remote control and the phono boards. I have owned it for about five or six years, and I have very little interest in upgrading. (Well, to be honest, I do have a little interest, but I realize that to honestly do better than the K-1xe, I would have to spend a lot more money.) In reading the reviews of the First Sound unit, it sounds like it is a top notch preamp in the same category as the Ayre.
So I quickly researched some of the features of the First Sound unit, and here are some possible reasons for you to upgrade to the K-1xe, (and some reasons for you not to).
1. The K-1xe does come with a remote control, which only controls the volume and muting. It will not control switching of inputs, balance control or anything else. I decided several years ago, that I really like the ability to control the volume (and muting) from my listening position, and I will very probably never have a preamp without one ever again. (For twenty years I lived without one, but to quote Poe, "Nevermore".)
2. And, speaking of balance controls, the K-1xe does not have one. The reason being that like the First Sound unit, it is a dual mono design. Therefore, in order to enable the volume control to work via a remote control, Charlie Hansen designed a very complicated dual stepper motor remote control mechanism inside the preamp. This control unit is incredible, as it, like the First Sound unit, uses only the finest materials available. Since the remote control must turn both controls at the same time, there is no way to only turn one, thus, no balance control. (And, I will state that one can hear the sound of the stepper motors when adjusting the volume, albeit only either between tracks, or during very quiet passages.) So, if you like to fiddle with your balance control, than the K-1xe may not be the preamp for you. (I will admit that it did take awhile to learn to live with those few recordings that have the image off-center, but now that I have, it is not a big deal to me. But I realize that for some people a balance control is a must. My room is pretty symmetrical, but if yours needs a touch to get the room in balance, than this is not the preamp for you.)
3. The K-1xe is very, very quiet, and it is also a fully balanced design, so it is advisable to use balanced (XLR) cables. I do use such cables from my primary sources (both my turntable and my CD player), to the Ayre, and then on to my amps, (Lamm M2.1 monoblocks). While one can use single ended cables, (and I do for some of my auxiliary sources, SACD, Tuner, CD Recorder), the K-1xe truly does sound best with balanced connections, IMHO.
The unit is set up to have 3 single ended inputs, and three balanced inputs, one of which is dedicated to the phono stage, (so this might mean using either adapters on your tonearm cables, or having your tonearm cables reterminated with XLRs, like I did).
4. The K-1xe is a solid state unit, and it was designed from the ground up to be very, very neutral. There is no bloom whatsoever in the mid-range. If you are used to a bit of tube bloom, especially in the mid-range, then you might consider the K-1xe to be somewhat lean. (In actuality, it is not, it just has zero mid-range bloom. This might take a bit of getting used to, if one is used to using tube preamps, as I, and apparently you, have used in the past.) However, the trade-off to having a solid state unit is that it is incredibly quiet, and there is (obviously) no tube rushing noise. (I grew tired of having tubed preamps, (Counterpoint, ARC), that had tube rushing noise, even if it was just audible during the quietest passages. But then again, since it is solid state, there is no opportunity to tailor the sound to you liking via tube rolling.
5. The K-1xe has optional phono boards, which are fairly flexible, as one can adjust the gain and loading via easily changeable resisters. These phono boards are of near reference quality, and make this preamp one of the premier full function preamps, IMHO. To better the phono boards, you would have to spend a considerable about of money on a separate phono preamp, (and a decent pair of interconnects). Now, to be honest, this is the one area that I have considered upgrading, as I have a few friends that have what I consider to be such an upgraded phono stage, (albeit only slightly better). Specifically, I would like to upgrade to the ASR Basis Exclusive, as it is very quiet, and very musical, but it runs about $3,500, used, and figuring another $500-1,000 for an interconnect, makes for a very expensive upgrade, for only a small sonic benefit. (Since I bought my K-1xe used for $4K, (about half price), that means I bought the $1,600 phono stage for about $800. Based upon my listening experiences, I figure it is in the same league as most new $4-5,000 phono stages. (So far I have resisted the urge to spend $4,000+ to upgrade from the $800 phono boards. (A five to one ratio does not make sense to me at this point in time.)
Again, I will point out that the phono boards are set up for balanced connections, which is somewhat unusual, (although the ASR Basis Exclusive is also primarily set up for balanced connections too, which is one reason I like it). I am not sure if the balanced connections make the phono stage so quiet, but it certainly is one of the quietest phono stages I have ever heard. I love having deep, dark, black backgrounds to my music played on vinyl!
Well, there are some of the differences in features and flexibility between the two units.
Good Luck with your choice. (I made mine several years ago, and I have been very happy with it so far!)
So I quickly researched some of the features of the First Sound unit, and here are some possible reasons for you to upgrade to the K-1xe, (and some reasons for you not to).
1. The K-1xe does come with a remote control, which only controls the volume and muting. It will not control switching of inputs, balance control or anything else. I decided several years ago, that I really like the ability to control the volume (and muting) from my listening position, and I will very probably never have a preamp without one ever again. (For twenty years I lived without one, but to quote Poe, "Nevermore".)
2. And, speaking of balance controls, the K-1xe does not have one. The reason being that like the First Sound unit, it is a dual mono design. Therefore, in order to enable the volume control to work via a remote control, Charlie Hansen designed a very complicated dual stepper motor remote control mechanism inside the preamp. This control unit is incredible, as it, like the First Sound unit, uses only the finest materials available. Since the remote control must turn both controls at the same time, there is no way to only turn one, thus, no balance control. (And, I will state that one can hear the sound of the stepper motors when adjusting the volume, albeit only either between tracks, or during very quiet passages.) So, if you like to fiddle with your balance control, than the K-1xe may not be the preamp for you. (I will admit that it did take awhile to learn to live with those few recordings that have the image off-center, but now that I have, it is not a big deal to me. But I realize that for some people a balance control is a must. My room is pretty symmetrical, but if yours needs a touch to get the room in balance, than this is not the preamp for you.)
3. The K-1xe is very, very quiet, and it is also a fully balanced design, so it is advisable to use balanced (XLR) cables. I do use such cables from my primary sources (both my turntable and my CD player), to the Ayre, and then on to my amps, (Lamm M2.1 monoblocks). While one can use single ended cables, (and I do for some of my auxiliary sources, SACD, Tuner, CD Recorder), the K-1xe truly does sound best with balanced connections, IMHO.
The unit is set up to have 3 single ended inputs, and three balanced inputs, one of which is dedicated to the phono stage, (so this might mean using either adapters on your tonearm cables, or having your tonearm cables reterminated with XLRs, like I did).
4. The K-1xe is a solid state unit, and it was designed from the ground up to be very, very neutral. There is no bloom whatsoever in the mid-range. If you are used to a bit of tube bloom, especially in the mid-range, then you might consider the K-1xe to be somewhat lean. (In actuality, it is not, it just has zero mid-range bloom. This might take a bit of getting used to, if one is used to using tube preamps, as I, and apparently you, have used in the past.) However, the trade-off to having a solid state unit is that it is incredibly quiet, and there is (obviously) no tube rushing noise. (I grew tired of having tubed preamps, (Counterpoint, ARC), that had tube rushing noise, even if it was just audible during the quietest passages. But then again, since it is solid state, there is no opportunity to tailor the sound to you liking via tube rolling.
5. The K-1xe has optional phono boards, which are fairly flexible, as one can adjust the gain and loading via easily changeable resisters. These phono boards are of near reference quality, and make this preamp one of the premier full function preamps, IMHO. To better the phono boards, you would have to spend a considerable about of money on a separate phono preamp, (and a decent pair of interconnects). Now, to be honest, this is the one area that I have considered upgrading, as I have a few friends that have what I consider to be such an upgraded phono stage, (albeit only slightly better). Specifically, I would like to upgrade to the ASR Basis Exclusive, as it is very quiet, and very musical, but it runs about $3,500, used, and figuring another $500-1,000 for an interconnect, makes for a very expensive upgrade, for only a small sonic benefit. (Since I bought my K-1xe used for $4K, (about half price), that means I bought the $1,600 phono stage for about $800. Based upon my listening experiences, I figure it is in the same league as most new $4-5,000 phono stages. (So far I have resisted the urge to spend $4,000+ to upgrade from the $800 phono boards. (A five to one ratio does not make sense to me at this point in time.)
Again, I will point out that the phono boards are set up for balanced connections, which is somewhat unusual, (although the ASR Basis Exclusive is also primarily set up for balanced connections too, which is one reason I like it). I am not sure if the balanced connections make the phono stage so quiet, but it certainly is one of the quietest phono stages I have ever heard. I love having deep, dark, black backgrounds to my music played on vinyl!
Well, there are some of the differences in features and flexibility between the two units.
Good Luck with your choice. (I made mine several years ago, and I have been very happy with it so far!)