ORIGINAL: Greg / MO
I'm surprised to hear that, big country... I'm a huge fan of the Guardian myself (just placed my order for my third one last week...) because it's plenty quiet of course, I like the string angle better (due to the longer a-to-a) and especially the fact I don't need a press for it.
BUT... I shot a General several times over the weekend at our shooting booth in Indy... and I will readily admit that it had even less hand shock and noise than the Guardian. Not crazy about the a-to-a myself, but it IS quieter and more shock-free... as hard as that would have been to imagine a year ago.
I was talking to our engineer who designed all our bows quite a bit this weekend, and he attributes it mainly to more limb preload (which you can see in a more pronounced arc when the bow is at brace, or rest), which minimizes limb-tip travel.
Well it was a different noise. Kinda like string buzz but coming from the riser or limbs. Who knows, could just be the bow. Maybe a nice stabilizer would help things.
I still love the fact you don't need a press. And never was a big fan of the those cam stops.
Don't get me wrong, I would happily hunt with a general for a good price. Just prefer the guardian. In fact, I am on the hunt for a good price on a 07 model.