Opinions on Fishman Presys Plus or Blend systems

[kyleknapp]

I need to replace the pickup in my 1990s Larrivee OMV-3. I bought it used, with a stock Baggs "Notch" pickup system, but the electronics are noisy and unreliable. I'm thinking of replacing it with a Fishman Presys Plus or Presys Blend.

Does anyone have any experience with these? Is the built-in condenser mic of the "Blend" worth the extra $$

Also, it appears these systems use Sonicore UST, which I have no experience with. How does Sonicore compare to Fishman's Gold Plus Thinline transducer. I have a GoldPLus Thinline that came out of a guitar I used to have - are they interchangeable? Does one sound better than the other?

If I'd had the choice, I'd have preferred not to have a "barn door" pickup system at all, but since the hole is already there that kind of narrows my choices. I've heard good things about Highlander and D'Tar pickups, and would consider one of them, but they don't have any models with a shoulder (barn door) preamp.