What can you tell me about First Sound pre-amps?

TWWEAR, I understand your preference. All My preference is different: my remote controls are at the bottom of a long forgotten drawer: I never use them. As for twin volume controls, a mitigating usability factor is that the attenuators click at discrete points, so it should be quite easy to match them exactly. Furthermore, as I already mentioned, twin volume controls act also as a very high quality channel balance as well, without introducing the artifacts that a balancing circuit would. By coincidence twin volume control and a single volume control plus a balance control amount to the same number of knobs on the unit. Strange but true!

rackon - well, stated. i understand your points clearly, especially about "system context." tell us what amp, source and speakeres you had around your FS.

Sometimes at night I have dreams in which my FS preamp has a remote. Then I wake up, sadly.

I understand what you are saying Guidocorona. But it is very difficult to set the correct levels at the listening position without remote control. Unless of course one has their equipment within arms reach, we have to interupt the listening experience and jump up and adjust the sound level for different recordings. And to further exasperate things by having two separate level controls doubles the posibility of getting it wrong. If you have the ability to remember where every piece of music and source you own sounds best then you are very lucky. But, I have many different souces and recordings of LPs, CDs, Laserdiscs and DVDs all of which have different output levels. I agree with you about the artifacts that a balance control will add and as I stated above do not want or need one. And as I stated before, it is a simple matter to stack volume controls and still keep them dual mono. I don't have any quibbles about you liking your purchase. You decided before you bought it what you could live with. And from what I have read, it is a wonderful preamp and you should be happy with it. Hell, the excersize would be good for all of us but I listen to a lot of vinyl and have to get up a lot anyway.

it's obvious that if you ask people who already use the FS whether it's a big deal or not to lack a remote, or to have separate volume controls, they will say, "no big deal."

I am one of those - BUT, I did not think I was going to be able to deal with it. In other words, when I went looking for "no-holds barred" preamps, I initially ONLY wanted one with a remote, but then I could not help but notice that many of the very best tubed preamps did not have remotes (Lamm L2, First Sound, Aethetix Calisto, VAC, CAT, Audio Note, and so on) - So rather than automatically exclude some of hte very very best in my consideration - I broadened my criteria, deciding I would live with this "inconvenience."

Well, let me tell you, if your someone thinking about a preamp but are wavering because it's got no remote - DONT SWEAT IT. True life might be easier with a remote, true that recordings all vary, and true you'll have to get up off your arse more, but it's managable.....