Anyone own one of these preamps ?

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.

The Benchmark LA4 is neutral, and it will not add anything to almost any source signal. It measures better than almost everything else and does not seem to add to the source signal. I had it for a decade and I used it with a CODA #16 amp and various sources. I loved the combo.

A recently discovered a type of preamp from Allnic Audio using an OTL/OCL design. The unique aspect of these tube preamps is that they are detailed liked the Benchmark LA4 but also holographic. I think they are the best preamps around. The best one I heard was a $33k one but the lower priced ones from Allnic were also better than most other designs.

Since I like the Allnic OTL/OCL so much but have no cash I bought the $500 Schiit Audio Valhalla 3 OTL/OCL preamp with some custom tubes (approx. $100). Not as good as the Allnic but I like it more than the LA4. However, the Valhalla 3 is not one that is feature rich and easy to use so it is hard for me to recommend. I use it in my office 3 feet from my desk, so I have overcome one limitation (no remote).