Well, there is nothing wrong with the Benchmark LA4. It works very well and ergonomically it is one of the better preamps I have ever owned. It doesn't have any particular sound signature and seems to work well with several amps I had. What it does lack and the NAT magnetic has, is more a connection with the music. There is more of everything that makes home audio listening very enjoyable. I had forgotten how important a preamp is to audio system, especially if you have analog sources. I had a Counterpoint 3.1 and a MFA Magus previously, and the NAT Magnetic brings back that extra "magic". Notice I preferred tube preamps, and after many integrated amps between them and the Magnetic, this was a good choice. The tube preamps I have owned had separate power supplies and that may account for a lot of the extra "magic". I know there are plenty of solid-state preamps out there, and if I tire of tube preamp short comings maybe I'll investigate them.