Anyone own one of these preamps ?

I had the Benchmark LA4. It was very neutral with very precise volume control in 0.5 db clicks. I had the complete Benchmark stack at the time so I am not sure how it would be with other equipment. The DAC 3 was sending the full 12 Vrms analog signal to the LA4 so system synergy was in play.

But I too could not look past its awkward half pint looks, and other than on a tablet, I was not a fan of touchscreens on my hifi equipment. Sold it.

I just upgraded from a PS Audio BHK tube hybrid to the SS PS Audio PMG pre. I’ll spare you all of the typical adjectives, other than to say the improvement was dramatic & stunning & the BHK was a great sounding unit. My Maggie 3.7x have come alive with resolution & dynamics i didn’t think they were capable of. I thought I’d miss the tube front end, but I don’t. They’ll give up to a $3000 trade in allowance & are now offering a 60 day trial period. Just throwing out another option for you to consider.  Good luck in your search.

@analog_tiffer - I'm currently using a Herron VTSP-360, and I've been very happy with its sound for over 5 years. What I don't like about it is the remote. It works fine and is fully functional and controls everything on the preamp, but it's a cheap plastic thing that is 3.5 inches long and about 2 inches wide. And the preamp is such that a universal remote cannot be programmed for it. From what I understand, Keith Herron was initially reluctant to have remotes for his preamps at all, but his customers wanted a remote and he eventually gave them one, but apparently he wasn't going to spend a nickel more for it than absolutely necessary. At least that's my conjecture. And Keith has also retired from the business. 

Anthem STR remote is metal 🤘. Point one for anthem. Connectivity is definitely a strength for them. Then there is Arc Genesis room correction. Every time I call support (mainly to have them explain to me like a five year old how something works) they are unbelievably the friendly neighbors of the north we all love so much! When my nephew helped me unbox he said he had never seen such a quality piece of stereo equipment before. We come from poor stock 😆! Still a great offering for a person who needs a preamplifier for a variety of things. The only drawback is no hdmi input. 

Why are some contributors focussed on whether a remote is plastic or metal. Even the most extreme audiophile is surely not going to contend that a metal remote improves sound quality and sound quality is what matters or so I would have thought. I haven't got first hand experience with any of the preamps mentioned but way back I did have a Rogue pre and power amp but changed to Aesthetix and currently VTL. Each change resulted in some degree of improvement especially after tube rolling experimentation.