I've just been comparing my Armstrong loaded SB Elite with my original SB Black & Gold.
The output from the Armstrong is so much lower than the original Aria pickup, despite that it's meant to be matched.
Plugging into Logic and using a meter, with everything set the same, the Armstrong is about 8dB down.
Once Rautia start taking orders again I shall be getting a replacement.
I quite fancy trying one of his multi coil pickups and a Lusithand preamp