Pure tube phono preamp

"All tube" seems to be a tough find. Most have one thing or the other, but not BOTH.

A manufacturer needs to step in and clarify the tube rectified thing. From my understanding, SS(diode/bridge rectifier) is the way to go from a technical standpoint?

Quiet is a personal tolerance thing. With my "all tube" Foz, the volume at 1:00 o’clock or so you hear hiss. Once the needle hits the first groove-no hiss. Hiss between tracks also. I doubt even the "best" tubes would completely eliminate that.

You can hear hiss(VERY little) in THE FINEST tube based setups, so prospective users need to get over it. It’s the same thing as the errant tick/stitch we hear now and then regardless of how great your "stamper" and cleaning regimen is.

I like the Decware piece. I considered it years back, but vetoed against it since it wasn’t a one box solution. You still need a step up for LOMC.

I hope an NVO owner will drop in in to describe their experience. I heard the NVO only once, but I remember what I heard. The entire system was WOW, but I’m certain the NVO is responsible for a good part of that.

The Manley Chinook!
https://upscaleaudio.com/products/manley-labs-chinook-special-edition-mkii
The Herron!
http://www.herronaudio.com/vtph2specs.html

The Manley Chinook! which has a JFET front end for MC cartridges
https://upscaleaudio.com/products/manley-labs-chinook-special-edition-mkii

The Herron! which has a FET front end for MC cartridges
http://www.herronaudio.com/vtph2specs.html

What is the bias against using a SUT? If setup properly they are the quietest solution to increasing the gain of a LOMC.
High quality SUT's also have a very high bandwidth so they induce no roll off at either end of the audio spectrum.
Using an all tubed setup for a LOMC just seems like an invitation to frustration as the tubes wear and get noisy. Finding suitable replacement tubes is going to add another level of frustration. I've seen folks complaining about finding good quiet tubes for a MM stage, MC voltages are typically only 10% of that.
To me, using a SUT is a very elegant solution, it doesn't add any components not found in a typical tube system, no solid state components, just simple transformers.

BillWojo

Another Vote for SUT, especially one with MM bypass, and options.

I took Bill’s (and other’s here) SUT advice,

kept my wonderful MM phono stage in my McIntosh mx110z tube preamp, and found a quality SUT to boost my first MC cartridge signal up to MM signal strength.

There are a lot of SUT choices out there, I got help here understanding what’s involved, researched, always fun to learn. here's my SUT search discussion here

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/which-sut-for-3mv-10-ohms-mc-cartridge-into-3mv-mm-input-sens...

I chose Fidelity Research FRT-4, I moved it here/there, I could not hear any hum, it’s well built.
Not finding one for sale now: this sold one shows features/flexibility. 3 tonearm inputs front selectable; MM bypass; 4 optional impedance settings via front switch

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649456327-fidelity-research-frt4-sut/images/1968368/

This Entree looks well built, has similar features, 3 tonearm inputs front switch, 3 optional impedance settings via front switch, several of them for sale.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2047675.m570.l1313&_nkw=entre+ET-100&...
..........................

Range of options varies, sometimes specific knowledge of values are unknown.

i.e. I just bought this inexpensive phono stage to try for my office

https://www.amazon.com/iFi-Preamp-Turntables-Record-Players/dp/B08H2GPD7F/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&a...

1 input; 4 settings: MM; MC High; MC Low; MC Very Low.

Inside package, some specifics not found online:
MM: greater than 2mV
MC High: less 2mV
MC Low: less than .5mV
MC Very Low: less than .25 mV

I’ll be hooking up this iFi tomorrow in main system, straight to the Cayin, skipping the Mx110z phono stage, comparing it to the Fidelity Research SUT to the mx110z then to the Cayin.

Like it? Up to the office so I can use MC there eventually.

Not, Amazon easy refund.