I finally had a chance to ride StratosFear at Knoebels, and it's even better than I remember the other ones being. Instant lift off the seat, but not "ejector" airtime where your shoulders bash into the restraints. After a second or two, just when think you should be back in your seat, you keep falling, and then finally you slam into the seat when it hits the brakes.
This is the most thrilling model of drop tower, bar none. IMO it's better than every Intamin tower (including 1st and 2nd gen) and definitely better than S&S towers. On this trip, I rode SFA's 2nd-gen Intamin tower the day before Knoebels, and Hersheypark's new S&S drop tower the day after. There's simply no comparison. Larson/ARM wins every time.