yeah you know, all i have ever had experience with are preamp plugins.  i have been most impressed with the big sound i can get out of them.  
i admit im not knowledgeable on the subject.  oh well, gotta start somewhere.
im not sure thats what i would use the FMR preamp for, with its reputation for clean colorless audio, and since i dont use a vocal mic, im not sure its the preamp for me.
im impressed with the effect you can get with 
these plugins from Digital Fish Phones, one in particular:  'Blockfish'
the saturation stage sounds good to my ears.  
im also a big fan of Disco DSP 'ThrillMe' i love the squashed sound you can get with it.  i wonder if theres a hardware preamp or compressor that could lend a similar effect.  
im also impressed with Steinberg's Magneto, as simple and old as it is.
i would like to build a hardware clone possibly at some point.  i want an aggressive sound with lots of color  for drums in particular, but really for everything.  they are in the $1000 range however, which is a bit high for me at the moment.