Benchmark / Anthem / Rogue

Hi Jim,

I demo'ed the Rogue RP1 and thought it was just ok. Nothing offensive, just not great. The Quicksilver line stage that I demoed at the same time was more to my liking. I have no experience with the RP 5. 

I owned the Anthem STR integrated and same thing, it was just ok. To my ears it sounded kinda of slow and bloated.  

I preferred the Belles Aria integrated to either of these choices.

I have no experience with any Benchmark gear. 

Joe

Well you picked three distinct choices. I think the answer will depend on your personal preferences for sound not that of others.

If uncolored, technically detailed and accurate is your thing, then BEnchmark no doubt.


If a touch of tube flavor is called for, then Rogue. What power amp? For most tube pre-amps (higher output impedance) you want a power amp with at least 4-6 kohm input impedance. I’d definitely avoid a tube pre-amp if amp is <= 1kohm input impedance, which is not uncommon. Chances are distortion will be higher, bass flabby, and detail overall obscured in that case.

Other wise Anthem will be somewhere in the middle, probably closer to the Benchmark based on my recollection.

All 3 are very good.

I owned a RP-5 for almost two years.  I replaced the JJ tubes with NOS Mullard and was extremely happy.  It was low noise, worked perfectly. I did feel the remote was quite cheesy, but for $3500.00, it was perfect for me.  The only reason I sold it was because I decided to go all McIntosh.  

The rogue would be the best bet and it is a very neutral tube unit that will work on many pairings also it has a tube phono stage built in and it also allows you to tube roll to fine tune the sound to your system using nos vintage tubes which is the way to go too many positives to ignore.

I have the Benchmark HPA4 which is the LA4 plus a headphone amp. Very uncolored. Very quiet. Excellent specs. This is a reference preamp for some reviewers. I like it a lot. It would be good to know what amp(s) you will be pairing with the preamp.