[Vancebo]

I guess the point I am making is that if I took all the money I spent on purchasing all of the other preamps alone, I would have had enough to by a SPS-1. If people are looking for the best tone they can achieve they should a) save their money long enough and buy an SPS-1 and be done with it. or b) pick one of the many other preamps out their based on the features they need and then still be done with it. For me, I learned that the "next thing" didn't ever really satisfy my ear. It is a fault of mine I guess.

The reason I never bought an SPS-1 was because I couldn't believe it was that much better and it couldn't possibly be worth the money. People on this forum always said it was good but I just couldn't believe it enough to justify it. People want to know how much better. Well, that's a hard question to answer. It's a quirky thing of mine to attempt to make a descriptive answer. Let me explain:

Warning: You can just skip this next part if you want to.

For 22 years, I have been a band director. So, by nature, evaluating the tone of many different acoustic instruments has been part of my job. Participating in and judging band contests are a part of my experience besides just the daily work. In contests, scores are derived from various musical categories, one of them being "Quality of Sound". There are inherent developmental hurdles to overcome when working with young musicians. The practice and process of identifying and working through those issues has probably caused me to have a more discerning ear than most. It's a curse really. For example, I can't enjoy a concert/performance if it's a bad sound. I'm always analyzing it and critiquing...I mean everything. So, when I started playing guitar, then decided to start plugging in so others could here me play, there began a journey than didn't necessarily yield results the more money I threw at it. I believe an amplified acoustic guitar has it's own unique challenges that other instrumentalists do not have to deal with. A plugged in acoustic guitar doesn't sound like an acoustic guitar. It's simply a close facsimile and that's not the sound I want to hear. I want to hear my guitar.

I know there are many here that seem to be desiring the same thing. They want to hear their guitar but only louder. People seem to be making lots of efforts toward that end and some are coming close enough to a magical combination that they finally say "I think I've got it". Then the rest of us pounce on it and want to know the magical cure. Kind of like fad diets. So 2 months ago, I took the plunge and found the cure and now I want to share my results with all of you.

No, I don't have recordings of the SPS-1 to compare to any of the other preamps in my closet.

The second best preamp? Depends on the specific features you need. You can always dial in a more than acceptable sound with almost any of them.

If you want a floor pedal with a built in tuner the Baggs Venue is great but the tuner is a little iffy. I still had to use my ear instead of my eyes sometimes. Has a cool solo boost switch.

The best tone shaping capabilites was the DTAR Equinox. It has a fully parametric EQ and two notch filters. I had it mounted on a mic stand. I liked adding the Mama Bear to it when I was running just a UST only.

The K4 had similar features to the DTAR and was a very warm sound with the best bottom end.

Owned a Rane AP13 many years ago but didn't know how to use it. Owned a couple of Raven Labs products that were good but again were hampered I think by the user. All these not being made anymore.