Benchmark / Anthem / Rogue

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. 

Resell value = definitely Anthem
Bells and whistles = Anthem
Room correction = Anthem     
     

Everything else?  It's a toss up.  No one can tell you what sounds better because there are 1000 other factors in each of their systems.  They're all excellent products.  If someone says one sounds "better" or more natural, that's only their opinion on their system.  And the truth is, probably not a single person here has owned two of these in the same system; especially all three.

I know you can't go wrong with the Anthem which is why I own it... But no, I have not compared it to the other two.. Mainly because I change speakers so often.                

I've been using the Anthem STR Preamp for a couple of years now. If there's any chance you will want to integrate subs, it does that exceptionally well. The room correction also helps smooth things out, either bass-only or full-range. This product has the most transparent DSP I have used in over 15 yrs of using it. I would rate it on par with the Weiss EQ1 Mk2 mastering equalizer. It is noticeably more transparent than the DSP in the Classé CP-800, my former main preamp. When I use the tone controls, for example, I can't detect *any* side effects.

The outstanding aspect of the Anthem is its DSP features, so if you are going to have a mainly analog system, it might not be the one for you (though you still might enjoy it). The model is in short supply right now, probably because of the AKM fire last October.
I haven't used the others, so can't comment on them.

True the Anthem STR has many modern features to differentiate it in addition to inherent good sound that some will find useful.

I have tested all of these all the way to the RP9. I love the sound and the power. I heard the RH5 is balanced and around the same price plus you get the headphone amp. I was interested due to the RP7 and RP9 are fully balanced. One issue I had is the home theater pass through loses 10db due to the tubes get shut off. Maybe they fixed this. The phono stage was nice and smooth in the RP5 which was a plus for me. It made my $300 TT sound like it was $1000. I am going with Ayre KX-5 preamp due to it is detailed with a warm sound, fully balanced, and the home theater pass through works great. It is twice as much as an Rogue RP-5. So it should be awesome. I also tried the Ayre KX-R preamp. By far the best you will hear if you get the right amps. Like the matching MX-R mono blocks. Too rich for my blood, but still the best of the best I have heard. If you are in the Chicagoland area and want to try these brands for your self. Ayre does have integrated amps that start at around $6k but this is my end game setup:
https://holmaudio.com/
they will let you demo before you buy except for TT and insanely heavy speakers. If you don’t need the home theater pass through Rogue is awesome!