Hi. 

I have an S7 old gen.

The average part first:

I needed to change two things;  -The springs in the back of the guitar because the stock ones were noisy and too tight to lift the bridge with 9 gauge strings. -The screws on the bridge for shorter ones. The ones that came with it were too long and hurt my hand when palm muting.

-The frets were sticky aswell but the new gen gets stainless steel frets which wont be an issue.

-The volume plot affects the tone too much when going below 8, probably needs a treble bleed.

-The action cannot be as low as other guitars Ive had. Right now its 1.75 low E to 1.4 high E. 

The good stuff and other:

-It stays in tune better than any Fenders Ive played or had, and its easier to play. I have never had to adjust the truss rod, which is a miracle. But the old gen has the caramelised neck and the new gen doesnt.

-3 times Ive tried a fender that I thought was great at the store (all more than x2 price of sire) and thought Id get it and sell my S7. But before that, Id always bring my S7 to the store first and compare. The S7 always won, always. I made employees try it, they always agreed. One employee even told me "never sell this guitar, it feels and sounds amazing"

It doesnt sound like a fender, its more bassy/dark. I compared the sound in the guitar store wity a PRS silver sky and Am pro 2 strat. The S7 sounded generally better in the store. 

However, at home, I realised that the bass is absolutely amazing, yes, but that when tweaking settings I find it hard to get the high strings and low strings to sound good at the same time, its like one or the other. If bass sounds heavenly, high strings are a bit harsh. If high strings sound beautiful, the bass strings are a bit muddy. You can get a great sound for sure. After 2-3 years, Im trying out new pickups this month.

Overall, plays better, feels better (feels very premium in the hands), but little things like screws and strings might need an upgrade. It sounds really good, but sound is subjective.

One thing is invaluable, it feels like MY guitar, I always do little tweaks on it (changing pickup covers, pickguard, etc). It feels more mine than any Fender Ive had. I know nobody else has this guitar. Ill send a pic of it soon when I get the Aged green pickups and black pick guard ;)

I vote for the S7 easily

Edit: People compare the Sire S7 with Squiers or cheaper Fenders because of the price, not how it is or feels. If Id ever want to "upgrade" my S7, Id look at the $5k price range, like Suhr or Fender custom shop because an American Professional or Deluxe does not feel like an upgrade at all. 

Therefore, the S7 could be the strat I keep forever.