I would agree. You will feel the most increase with the gears, and then when you eventually do get a new converter, it will be even more apparent. A torque converter works like the clutch on a manual tranny, it allows the power to be disconnected so that the tranny can shift, it also builds up the pressure that the entire slushbox runs on. Think of two fans facing each other, if you turn one on, the other will spin b/c of the air going by it. Thats like the torque converter, except it's filled with fluid for better transfer. It allows for much faster shifts, but you loose power by the nature of using a fluid to transfer that power. The loss of a manual driveline (correct me please) is something like 16-18% or something, and a stock auto 22%. With a torque converter that stalls (it stalls when everything is spinning at the same speed, no slippage) closer to the engine's peak power, you can lower that loss closer to a manual. Check out this article, it explains it well:
http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2...er/index.shtml