Sorry so slow, have been busy, and not online much. I work on two 40 inch SP's, Our 540 (5 over 5) is a L style, (Was installed new three years ago). Our new 440,(4 over 4), is an LS style and was put in, this last January. I can't really compare, print quality, to newer inline presses, as we were a Miller shop, until buying the Komori. (Newest press I had worked on was a 91 40,inch Roland 2/C). I will say our SP'c print very clean, on both sides of the sheet, as long as you, keep your Pearl-Tex, and delivery belt, clean.
As to comparing the L to the LS, here are some observations, I, have made so far. New Vacuum board feed and vacuum pull guide on LS is great improvement, over the feeder on our L. (Handles upcurled stock much better). The LS has lot more pumps and a more elaborate airbar setup in between units. Our 440 takes up more floor space with pump cabinets than our 540. The LS does run faster, close to 16,000 hr verse,s 13,000. The plate hangers have been the main problem with our LS. The new APC is faster than on the old L, but bad plate hangs have been a real problem. (Four blue shirted Komori techs, spent last week redoing both lower and upper hangers,and they seem better.) The LS has the new PDCS 2 sytem on it versus, our L that has the old PDCS 1, setup. The new 2 system is a vast improvement over #1. We are a short run printer and we change jobs and layouts all day long.The PDCS 2 makes going from different sizes, and color arrangements, much faster and with a lot less operator involvement. This is getting long, so I will wrap it buy saying that, The Komori SP is quite the workhorse, during our peek season we run 25 to 30 four color, both sides, jobs, on a eight hour shift, three shifts a day, five, or six days a week, with no problems. In fact our SP,s love to run and get cranky during slow times.
Mike B