03-06-13: MapmanOdd you've found that first position to be fussy - I bought my SP16 S/H with the original New Sensor EH tubes that had many years of service and the phono was still remarkably quiet.
Luckily it was not phono slot 1 which takes a more expensive very low noise tube in order to keep things quiet that is harder to replace.
While I'm not currently using my SP16 for phono duties, I've found the phono very quiet with commonly available low cost New Sensor 12AX7's. At present I have the Svetlana variant fitted - ~$15ea matched/balanced - with zero noise issues.