Phono Preamp Tube Rush

Do I conclude from the talk about Johnson noise that (1) MM cartridges with their inherently much higher internal resistance and much much greater inductance will be noisier than MC types?

What matters, of course, is signal-to-noise ratio, and of course the greater amount of Johnson noise that would be generated by the greater amount of resistance in a MM cartridge occurs in conjunction with a greater amount of signal.

And (2) what about all those high value Rs often used in an RIAA network, again, IF one is obsessive about Johnson noise?

I’m not especially familiar with the internal designs of phono stages, but I would expect that quality designs typically apply a significant amount of gain "ahead" of the RIAA equalization circuitry. Resulting in much better S/N ratio relative to Johnson noise generated by that circuitry than if the output of the cartridge was applied directly to it.

Also, keep in mind that Johnson noise that can be generated by a high value resistor may or may not matter depending on the impedances and configuration of the associated circuitry. For example, as Hagtech and the Sound Devices paper I linked to both indicated, shorting a high impedance input will essentially nullify the effects of Johnson noise that would otherwise be introduced by that high impedance.

Finally, of course, the RIAA network rolls off everything above 1 kHz to some degree, which encompasses 95% of the spectrum that is nominally audible.

In any event, the only reason I raised the issue of Johnson noise was in response to a question about whether any tube-based phono stages are quiet enough for hiss to be inaudible when one’s ear is placed against the speaker, while a record is not being played. And my response was to the effect that for typical combinations of system gains, sensitivities, and volume control settings theoretical limitations might come into play which could make that impossible, or close to it.

Best regards,
-- Al

If Johnson noise is a problem you can narrow the bandwidth of your cartridge to 100 Hz (stick chewing gum behind the cantilever I guess)
or dunk your cartridge in liquid nitrogen before you play a side:) 
Seriously, this is all academic because there is not a darn thing (reasonably) that you can do about it and I hate math.

the only reason I raised the issue of Johnson noise was in response to a question about whether any tube-based phono stages are quiet enough for hiss to be inaudible when one’s ear is placed against the speaker, while a record is not being played. And my response was to the effect that for typical combinations of system gains, sensitivities, and volume control settings theoretical limitations might come into play which could make that impossible, or close to it.

*If* the phono section has sufficient overload margin yet still has plenty of gain (60dB) and a stepup transformer, you can get so much output out of the phono section that the noise floor of the line section will obscure that of the phono section- such that switching between Aux inputs and phono will not have an audible change to the noise floor even with your ear pressed to the loudspeaker drivers. I've demonstrated exactly this at shows.

Yes, MC carts with lower ESR will produce less noise.

RIAA networks contribute noise, but it's not usually a problem, as the networks are implemented after one or two stages of gain.  Ten nanovolts of noise at the input of a phonostage has a lot more impact than ten nanovolts added somewhere in the middle.

You have to look at the entire picture here (as you hinted).  Every single component adds noise.  

Tubes are inherently tweakier than solid state.  You can have tubes that have gone a bit 'microphonic' that need to be weeded out as a first step.  Power up the phono stage with the cover off and the volume at midrange, and very gently tap each tube with a pencil eraser and see what comes out of the speakers - a bad tube will be pretty obvious and I've had bad ones even in brand new batches.

Gain mismatches with a low output moving coil cartridge into a tube phono stage running at almost full volume are likely to give you some noise. If you listen to rock music with limited dynamic range that still may work for you, but on music with greater dynamic range you are likely to hear noise.  Consider the SUT that several have suggested - they work quite well - as long as you set the impedance correctly, assuming that it is adjustable on your unit.

And unlike solid state gear, you have a whole new set of non-soldered contacts that can get dirty and make unreliable contact and will need cleaning (usually every few years)  I'll leave the cleaning procedure and materials to someone else to explain.

Get the contacts right, and the tubes non-microphonic and the gain correct and it still may be a noisy pre-preamp for your system.  Which is why I run a solid state phono pre in my main system, which otherwise uses all tube amplification.  If you get a tube phono stage operating well for you, don't get upgraditis and get something else - you may well regret it.  I have had a tube phono stage in my second system (which ironically is otherwise all solid state) for some time and it is quiet and really quite good (CJ Premier 15). I have no intention of changing it any time soon.