first sound preamp

I owned the four chassis Presence Deluxe Paramount from Emmanuel, a special custom unit. The only reason I don't still own it relates to space constraints as it required multiple racks and floor space--not sonics, which were about as good as I have ever had in my subjective memory. The guy that bought it from me called and told me I was crazy for selling after he heard what it could do. He's probably right.

The First Sound preamps are minimalist in design and construction given Emmanuel's passive design history and have stood the test of time. He really is an artist and a master of using the finest materials to achieve results I've heard from very few of the electronics I've owned over the years. I enjoy my ARC Ref 5 a great deal but could easily live happily with any of Emmanuel's pre designs.

Grant
Shunyata Research

Which model First Sound did he have?

one guy emailed me and he use to have one and the audio horizon 2.1 blew it away. what can you say about it?

..in my opinion there aren't many better..mr go..the creator of the preamps..is a wonderful gentleman.one of the great features about the preamp is that each model is upgradeable to the next..for the most part..i recently had my 'paramount mk II' upgrade to a new level..'series 3...and the improvement is amazing...i agree with tpsonic regarding the siemens or amperex tubes..these are the best i have found also.i think you will love whichever model you get...

I love mine. Prescence Deluxe. Totally black background with an evenly presented musical presentation paired with a ISEM class A solid state amp and Dunlavy SC4a.

A great sounding preamp. Which model are you referring to and exactly what's your question? Several people on Audiogon had or still use this preamp.

When I worked at Salon 1 Audio,this was one of my favorites.Tube rolling is very easy-only two 6922s (Siemens or Amperex).Very open and airy,with good tonal saturation.Dual volume controls may take some time to get used to.All comments pertain to the Presence Deluxe.