Artg, I know from your posts that you love your FS as much as I love my Herron.
However - since you did single me out - just so you know...Rackon is a "she".
Your advice to contact users is well taken - I have done that, mainly to discuss reliability and synergy issues.
In my case, I have a pretty clear idea of what I'm looking for soundwise before I embark on the upgrade path as well as what the strengths and weaknesses of my current system are. I think it helps to know where you want to end up in order to choose the right road to get there. (Many are the paths to audio nirvana, although some are more twisted than opthers.)
Also, as Tvag mentions, reliability & customer support is also something that is important to me, along with ease of use. I don't have boats, so I'm not interested in buying boat anchors. I'm looking for products that are keepers.
I originally tried several preamps over a period of 2 years. Magazine reviews and internet forums are all right in their place, but I tend to search out components based on recommendations from dealers who have helped me in the past and people whose ears I trust - audio friends with experience and some relative musical sophistication. I pay particular attention to components that have worked well with my speakers and other components - it is a *system* after all.
I was also lucky enough to hear the Herron gear (which I was aleady interested in) in a killer demo at the Chicago Audio Society a few years back. Very useful, that. The FS was purchased based on a rec from someone who is now a dealer, but not for FS. I also heard a FS with a Berning amp and Merlin speakers in someone's system and was impressed enough to purchase one to try in my own system.
The FS was "buzz" product, however, I tend to be cautious about such audio groupie darlings. Some are the real deal and some are not. I don't really care how long the lines are to buy the component.
I tend to evaluate components "stock" first. The only thing I'm likely to change out initially is the power cord. I had the original tubes in the FS - had it rung my chimes, I would have rolled tubes in it. But it didn't so I didn't. The ergonomics alone killed it for me. In fact, I recently heard the FS in the original system I first heard it in, with Siemens BTW, and it still sounded quite fine in that context. The person I sold my FS to loves it. Different strokes for different folks.
The ultimate decision is how a piece sounds in *my* system with my gear in my room. The winner there, for my ears, my system, my music and my taste, was the Herron. For you, it was the FS. Neither of us bought our preamps based on "flavor de jour". It's no surprise we're both happy with our respective products.
It's impossible to hear every good tube preamp in the world, but I knew what I was looking for, and I auditioned at least six.
As you have been happy with your FS, so I have been delighted with my Herron. (Keith Herron and Emmanual Go actually have much more in common with their design philosophies than not, although they go about it in completely different fashion.) I sense some consternation on your part that I rejected the FS - how could I have not seen the light? Why didn't I swap tubes? But there is simply no one-size-fits-all preamp. As good as the FS is, and it is very good, it wasn't *my* preamp, although I understand it is *yours*. I too recommend people try the FS, CAT, Blue Circle, J-E and others. There are a bunch of good ones out there. And I don't deal any of them.
I'm just a happy musical camper, trying to turn fellow 'philes onto some good gear they may not have considered.
However - since you did single me out - just so you know...Rackon is a "she".
Your advice to contact users is well taken - I have done that, mainly to discuss reliability and synergy issues.
In my case, I have a pretty clear idea of what I'm looking for soundwise before I embark on the upgrade path as well as what the strengths and weaknesses of my current system are. I think it helps to know where you want to end up in order to choose the right road to get there. (Many are the paths to audio nirvana, although some are more twisted than opthers.)
Also, as Tvag mentions, reliability & customer support is also something that is important to me, along with ease of use. I don't have boats, so I'm not interested in buying boat anchors. I'm looking for products that are keepers.
I originally tried several preamps over a period of 2 years. Magazine reviews and internet forums are all right in their place, but I tend to search out components based on recommendations from dealers who have helped me in the past and people whose ears I trust - audio friends with experience and some relative musical sophistication. I pay particular attention to components that have worked well with my speakers and other components - it is a *system* after all.
I was also lucky enough to hear the Herron gear (which I was aleady interested in) in a killer demo at the Chicago Audio Society a few years back. Very useful, that. The FS was purchased based on a rec from someone who is now a dealer, but not for FS. I also heard a FS with a Berning amp and Merlin speakers in someone's system and was impressed enough to purchase one to try in my own system.
The FS was "buzz" product, however, I tend to be cautious about such audio groupie darlings. Some are the real deal and some are not. I don't really care how long the lines are to buy the component.
I tend to evaluate components "stock" first. The only thing I'm likely to change out initially is the power cord. I had the original tubes in the FS - had it rung my chimes, I would have rolled tubes in it. But it didn't so I didn't. The ergonomics alone killed it for me. In fact, I recently heard the FS in the original system I first heard it in, with Siemens BTW, and it still sounded quite fine in that context. The person I sold my FS to loves it. Different strokes for different folks.
The ultimate decision is how a piece sounds in *my* system with my gear in my room. The winner there, for my ears, my system, my music and my taste, was the Herron. For you, it was the FS. Neither of us bought our preamps based on "flavor de jour". It's no surprise we're both happy with our respective products.
It's impossible to hear every good tube preamp in the world, but I knew what I was looking for, and I auditioned at least six.
As you have been happy with your FS, so I have been delighted with my Herron. (Keith Herron and Emmanual Go actually have much more in common with their design philosophies than not, although they go about it in completely different fashion.) I sense some consternation on your part that I rejected the FS - how could I have not seen the light? Why didn't I swap tubes? But there is simply no one-size-fits-all preamp. As good as the FS is, and it is very good, it wasn't *my* preamp, although I understand it is *yours*. I too recommend people try the FS, CAT, Blue Circle, J-E and others. There are a bunch of good ones out there. And I don't deal any of them.
I'm just a happy musical camper, trying to turn fellow 'philes onto some good gear they may not have considered.