Indeed, the reason I switched to the Slate Grey over the Waves SSL bus comp is for the hi-pass filter, which I run at around 150Hz. As for wideners like Waves S1, I do use those, but never on the master. Instead, I might bus a bunch of BGV tracks thru an AUX and put the widener on the AUX, and I will sometimes put S1 on some effects. I find this quite effective without a serious compromise to the overall track(wideners work by using phase shifts and I don't want that on my entire mix
).
BTW, plugin presets are a mixed bag. If your mix is different from the mix that the preset was built for, then you might be chasing your tail
. At the very least, experiment a bit rather than just calling up the preset and assuming its fine. A multi-band limiter is a wonderful tool that can do some amazing things. It can also dig you into a hole that you can't get out of(which is why I suggested the L2 as its nearly impossible to screw up)
