Anyone own one of these preamps ?

I have a Herron Audio VTSP-360 Ref ESP. The most recent preamp I compared it with in my system was a NAD M66. In terms of user ergonomics, always somewhat a subjective thing, I found the Herron to be superior and much less idiosyncratic than the NAD/BluOS UX. In terms of sound quality the Herron is significantly superior, despite (or maybe because of) all extra bells and whistles of the NAD.  

In the past I've also directly compared the Herron 360 to an Aries Cerat Incito S and a Conrad Johnson ART 88 preamp. Both are significantly more expensive than the Herron. Yet both were eclipsed by the Herron in terms of  sound quality as well as user interface. Plastic remote control and all.

The Incito S could be quite thrilling on a small subset of the music I listen to, and could be fatiguing on anything with a hint of excess treble energy. And I tried quite a bit of tube-rolling and bias setting with the Incito that only partially tamed it down a bit. The Incito S build quality is Tesla Cybertruck bad -- bolted together stainless steel panels, loose hardware, overall looking like a not very good DIY project. And monstrously big and heavy.

The CJ ART88 is bigger, heavier than the Herron and harder to get into for tube changes. It has a higher noise floor even rolling in some NOS Telefunken 7DJ8s and to my ears did not offer any significant sonic advantages over the Herron. Volume steps on the CJ are larger than on the Herron and often seemed to be either just a little low or just a little high with no in-between that was just right.

Despite being retired, Keith still is available to support his products and the last time I spoke with him he said he has had no failures of the VTSP-360 in the field and considering the way he built them, he doesn't expect any, other than a tube needing replacement now and again.

My experience, for what it's worth.

Which anthem? They offer some really nice ones for home theater.

Curious to know what the demands on the pre-amplifier will be as this is a very important part of your system, it could be a major bottleneck. So really important to make a really really good decision otherwise you will be upgrading it later.

I was stupid because I was going to buy a VAC preamplifier and then the remote did not offer input selection which I found very disappointing. I made a good choice with my pre-amplifier ultimately buying something from Conrad Johnson. 

I inserted a line stage preamplifier in the home theater signal path and I really like it because it has a tube in it and that's a good thing, although I wonder if VAC would've been better.

I’m not familiar with your preamplifiers. Maybe expand the field

Following this thread. I haven't heard one yet but I have been looking at a Backert Labs Rhumba 1.4 Linestage for about $5K or Musical Fidelity M8SPre ($5,300) or 6SPre ($2100)n addition to some that have been mentioned. I have to move homes first.

@steve_zettel  I actually exchanged emails with Keith this morning….he and Joan are very much enjoying retirement, but he is still active with regard to his products that are already out there.   One of the nicest guys in the industry and exceptionally knowledgeable in audio circuit design and engineering.

I couldn't have said it better. Keith and Joan are wonderful folks.