experience with First Sound Paramount mkII


I'm currently using an Accuphase DP 78 player, deHavilland Mercury 2 pre and deHavilland GM 70 amps. Speakers are Nola Viper References. Am considering purchase of First Sound Paramount mkII preamp as I feel the Mercury is relatively weak at the extremes. CJ ACT2 is also under consideration. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
philstrain
Philstrain,
i purchased from Emmanuel Go a new line preamp unit First Sound deluxe 4.0 with paramount upgrade 1.5 month ago.
My previous unit was ARC Reference MKII.
No compare:Great difference , is a clean ,transparent , dead silent unit the First sound one.Highly recommended...
Also i took the unit without heard it because i live in Europe and here there is no distributor.
You will be an entousiastic man with this unit because is pure ,with the minimal exellent components.
Philstrain,
I currently own a First Sound Presence Deluxe Mark II Statement with Paramount Plus upgrade. Now that's a mouthful. It is a four chassis unit with separate left and right channels and power supplies. The First Sound is amazing. My best friend and I have been chasing high end equipment for about ten years, never quite being totally satisfied, and spending enormous amounts of money to keep trying to upgrade. Well I can tell you with this preamp, I am totally satisfied. My friend and I are in awe of this thing. It has such a low noise floor, which in turn creates a dead silent background. The decay on notes is unbelievable. I could go on and on. It is the very best piece of audio equipment I have ever purchased, and I own or have owned a lot of very nice equipment. I currently own Alon Lotus SE Signature speakers, and am waiting on a brand new pair of Nola References to be shipped to me as I write this. The similarities in speakers and possibly preamps is what made me respond. I use a VAC Renaissance 30/70 amplifier. One final thing, Mr Go is the most enthusiastic, helpful, enjoyable person I have ever spoken to about high end audio equipment. He is one of the most down to earth and nicest persons in high end. It feels good to own a piece of his equipment, because he truly cares. He has pride in it, and you can tell by the way it is built and the way it sounds. It is the only thing this guy does. Preamps. Period. I also have much respect for Kevin Hayes of VAC and Dennis Had of Cary. But they do make a lot of different pieces of equipment. A lot of different amps and preamps. Mr Go is perfecting the one thing he knows best. You can also continually upgrade that preamp, which is also really nice. Give him a call at 425-271-7486 and just talk to him about his preamps. You will be impressed with him, I can guarantee you that.
Calloway, thanks so much for that vote of confidence in first sound. It is a difficult decision to make such a purchase without the ability to hear for oneself. I was also interested that you are using Joe Cohen's wire as it is quite a fine match with deHavilland amps. Phil
...you will not be disappointed..it is ..by far..the best preamp i have ever had....i will be upgrading my mk II to the 'special edition' version in a month or two...the highs are superb as is every other aspect of the preamp...the ability to upgrade to the next version is also a decided plus ..in addition..mr. go is one of the nicest gentleman in audio business....hope this helps