Hello Muskrat. I have some experience with installing and using the LR Baggs HiFi. I put one in my previous guitar, an HD-28. The pickup itself worked just fine, I'd be lying if I said I was enough of an audiophile to go on about the nuances of it say compared to the Anthem or even the ES-2 (I've had all 3). In the end I think they all kind of work the same-ish and tinkering with whatever PA or rig you have will make the most difference. In my limited experience with using any of the pickups or a Shure SM58 microphone plugged into a Marshall AS-50D amp, none of them sound as natural as the mic into the amp. They all sound pretty good, but there is a clear difference.
So far as the installation goes, the biggest sweat was drilling into the guitar to accomodate the end jack. Where Stew Mac wanted $$$ for a specific drill bit, I opted to buy the best bit I could at Home Depot for no where near as much, after watching some YouTube videos on the operation. With painters tape over the hole and care, it worked like a charm without flaw. The rest was reading/understanding the instructions before assembly and taking my time. I was happy with how it turned out. Where the ES-1,2 have the advantage is the battery compartment as part of the end pin assembly. With the HiFi or even the Anthem you have to remove the strings to get to the battery which goes on the block. Not that the battery needs changing often, it's just a convenience thing.
Hope this helps.
