Reviews
Golden Ear Award,
The Absolute Sound Magazine
First Sound Presence Deluxe 4.0 MkIII-SI Special Edition Preamplifier
Stephen Scharf
It’s simply a glorious-sounding and captivating tube preamp. Incorporating technology from Shunyata Research, the noise floor is very low, particularly so for a tube component. With its simple circuits, sophisticated grounding, premium-quality parts, and uncompromising construction techniques, organic, involving, and immersive music just pours forth from the Presence Deluxe.
Tonal accuracy, textural resolution, and timbre, which give instruments their unique voice and color, is to die for, as is imaging precision. The soundstage is so three-dimensional it’s as if you can walk among the musicians in the recording venue.
The dual-mono power supplies provide drive, immediacy, and dynamic slam, and with approximately 150,000µF of capacitance per channel, they can flat-out kick ass when the music calls for it. They also provide the foundation for superb bass power, definition, and articulation. Mids are as rich and vibrant as a real cello or piano, but never syrupy or thick, and highs are as sweet as Miles’ muted trumpet or Arthur Grumiaux’s Guarnerius—open, airy, and extended, but never strident or sibilant.
First Sound Presence Deluxe MkIII Preamplifier
Christopher Redmond, 6moons.com
First Sound Presence Deluxe MkIII ticks off every box a music-loving audiophile would wish by being ultra resolving, supremely musical, affordable for the high end and with a build quality and appearance which encourage pride of ownership. Emmanuel Go seems to have left no stone unturned when it came to getting the very best performance from this device where every single component, joint and interface undergoes the utmost in scrutiny before being allowed to grace the chassis.
Even the torque of the nuts and screws underwent experiments. It’s hard for me to envisage how this level of performance could be improved. Yet the Presence Deluxe MkIII has three more levels of upgrades and further up the scale there remain the Paramount and Statement series which culminate in a six-chassis affair which the likes of me wouldn’t even have rack space for.
First Sound Presence Deluxe Statement with Paramount Upgrade MkII Preamplifier
Todd Warnke, enjoythemusic.com
“Listening to any music with the First Sound preamplifier in my system has become a complete mind-body experience. The sonic capabilities are such that the informational side of my brain and personality are completely satiated and I never feel like there is more there in the recording than I hear in my room. But of far more importance, the emotional side of me is equally filled as First Sound pulls off that most tenuous of balancing acts: matching feeling to intellect.”
First Sound Presence Deluxe MkII Preamplifier
Gary L. Beard, positive-feedback.com
“If it sounds like I am confessing undying love for my “new” First Sound Presence Deluxe Mark II, I really can’t do anything else. I have always loved her—sorry, it—and have said so in reviews of other equipment. I have always felt that she—sorry again, it—added the little things that made a good system better. However, the newly upgraded Presence does more than little things, and is now more than my audio system’s anchor. It is the Yin to my Berning ZH270’s Yang. It—okay then, she—is my music system’s synergistic center.”
“Utmost clarity, jaw-cracking dynamics, intense and deep bass, and newfound layers of nuance… complete lack of mechanical sound. Of all the sonic skills, detail retrieval was the most astounding. The preamp for those who want a passive but need the facilities of an active.”
Todd Warnke, soundstage.com
“Audio products hand crafted by today’s best audio engineers and designers, like Emmanuel Go of First Sound, can make a huge difference in getting as close as possible to the illusion of reproducing a live concert at home.”
Nelson Brill, Boston Concert Reviews
Audio Excellence
At the heart of our brand lies a dedication to the exquisite blend of innovative technology and superior craftsmanship, celebrating the art of sound with unparalleled finesse.
We invite you to immerse yourself in a sonic experience like no other, where every note is a testament to the pursuit of perfection and the epitome of experiencing musical luxury.
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