Will Changing my 100 Watt Tube Amp to a 200 Watt SS Amp Solve My Problem?

Hi Mark, It appears that you have sourced your problem correctly to your phono stage and/or cartridge. To determine whether its is the phono stage or the cartridge or both in combination, disconnect the IC from your TT to the phono stage and just listen to the phono stage at various gain levels and with your pre-amp VC . If there is no noise (as I suspect there will not be) then you have either a mismatch with the cartridge due to the inherent noise floor of the cartridge, something mechanically deficient in the cartridge or its set up. I'm not familiar with your phono stage or cartridge so I can't help you on this issue.

I'll save your eyes a bit by not amplifying on these comments but I would be happy to explain my conclusions if you ask.
1) There is nothing wrong with your pre-amp.
 2) There is nothing wrong mechanically speaking with its tubes.
 3) There is nothing wrong with having to listen with your volume control at 3 o'clock or even wide open if that is the position that meets your needs. Remember, all a volume control does in your pre-amp is lower the strength of the signal from the source before it reaches your volume control.. That's all. It does not lower the strength of the output from the pre-amp's tube section which is seen at a constant level by your amp.To some degree its function is redundant to the other options your have to reduce source output strength.

BTW, re the hum on the unconnected CD input selection. Small hums can be very difficult to trace. But before you conclude that this is a problem try connecting your dac to this input and see if the hum goes away.

Hope this helps a bit. Perhaps others can comment on your phono stage/cartridge/set up issues. 

Newbee,

I think it's time to change your handle to old pro!
Ok, so I tried a quick test, I listened as I did before, to the phono stage with the volume all the way up, and then I muted the preamp, removed the IC from the table to the phono stage, and unmated the amp.  The noise was the same.  Changing the gain means pulling the phono stage from the rack, unscrewing a panel, flipping some dip switches, and reassembling, so I cannot do it on the fly.  If the noise is the same at 50db gain setting, with or without the turntable connected, is that conclusive enough?  What is my next step? 

Mark, What this says to me is that your issue is with the noise floor of your phono stage. With the cartridge (TT) disconnected from the phono stage the noise you are hearing is inherrent with the design or the mechanical condition of the phono stage.

 This really has nothing to do with, in an absolute sense, the gain issues. You can lower or raise the gain but this will not remove the noise issue. If you lower the gain from the phono stage but compensate by increasing the signal level with the volume control you have a net zero change. If the noise is a substantial issue for you after you have adjusted all of the gain possibilities you need to reconsider your use of this phono stage. 

BTW, FWIW, I really appreciate those folks who can rise above the obvious implications of my 'handle'. Says much more about them than me
I think. 

Well, I wonder if the Whest is a fine unit, but just doesn't fit well with my system?  Or if it is a fine sounding unit that happens to have a noise floor that I just don't care for.

Any suggestions on a super quiet phono stage?

The Audio Research PH 6 has the same price tag, so conceivably I can sell my Whest and purchase a used PH 6 for about the same price.  58db of gain seems about perfect, as long as it's quiet.  Plus it is a tube model, which should be a nice thing to fit in with the 2 other ARC tube amps in my system.  But is it quieter than the Whest, that is the question.  

Mark, I don't know how assessible the folks at Whest are but my next move would be to contact their service department or technician and set out the issues to them and see what response you draw, if any.