Solid state or Tubes preamp phono stage.

Both phono stages will handle your cartridge well.

The benefit of the Musical Fidelity is that it works as a 'stack' with your amplifier. Its SNR specs are quite good, and Musical Fidelity has a pretty solid reputation for their phono stages. Sonically, the M6X is very neutral and will not give you harmonics and bloom, if that is what you are looking for. But some prefer to have harmonics come from their preamplifier, amp, etc.

The Hagerman Trumpet will provide the classic tube amp sound which is known to be colored and slightly rounded on top. It uses six tubes, all of which there are plenty of options to upgrade and roll to suit your sonic tastes. It may end up becoming more involving than the M6X, but it likely won't be as resolving.

Your choice should come down to:

1) How is your analog sounding now? Can it use more bloom or more resolution?

2) How much do you listen to vinyl vs digital? Is it better to increase the harmonics at the phono stage or at the preamp/amp?

3) How enticing is tube rolling to you, and can you afford to invest down the road to experiment with different tubes?

Thank you for your input on these amplifier. I own a tavish vintage phono stage and you can spend a lot of money on tubes. I read some reviews that solid state amplifier will work the best with my phono cartridge.

Look into the Gold Note PH-10 it is neutral yet dynamic and has great detail and never sounds shrill. It has unbelievable flexibility so no matter what cartridge you get down the road it will be able to handle

I have the Hagerman Trumpet and really like it. Am now running 2 CBS Hytron black plate 12au7’s, and 4 Telefunken/Dynaco smooth plate 12ax7’s. Also added an SBooster power supply. Yes, tubes are ‘to taste’, but my combination is much better that stock, and the tube choices take a lot of the ‘over colorization’ away vs the stock tubes, and IMO much more resolving than stock. Easily runs my lo and hi MI Soundsmith carts.

Can’t say enough good things about the Trumpet. Even with the above additions, still around/just under 2K.

I take issue with Bliss’s comments on tube phono stages in general, unless he’s referring specifically to the Trumpet, which I’ve never heard. Modern tube phono stages in general are not rolled off and lacking in resolution at all. Tubes inherently produce very low distortion and very wide bandwidth, more than an order of magnitude greater than the audio spectrum. A good designer can make full use of these attributes in a phono stage. In tube amplifiers, the coupling transformer can be blamed for adding harmonic distortion and limiting the frequency response. A good tube phono stage can compete on equal footing with solid state, where lab measurements are concerned, except possibly in SN ratio. So I advise the op to listen for himself.