If I may add to this - even as a dedicated Paramount aficionado - I wouldn't necessarily consider the lugwork of all second-generation Paramounts on par with a pre-IC De Rosa. Look at Picchio's 1977, for instance:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/2358521...7618581982271/

If one has seen a raw, unfinished pressed lug vs. an investment cast piece, it is hard not to be in awe of the filing efforts put into the lugs fitted to this '77.

Nevertheless, not a bit of this lugwork affects the ride quality of a Paramount or either form of De Rosa. You might find a sloppy 531 Crescent someday that may put an Eddy Merckx frame to shame on a descent (though I doubt it).

If ride quality is your primary concern, and craftsmanship not so, pressed or cast lugs on a De Rosa will probably mean little to you. Nevertheless, it is the laborious, exquisite finishing of De Rosa's early pressed lugs that have created much of the brand's panache in the first place - it is for this reason that some individuals will prefer the pre-cast lug era, for they feel such a frame is closer to the roots and original traditions of the De Rosa frames.

-Kurt