Solid state or Tubes preamp phono stage.

The Trumpet MC is a lovely stage at a bargain price. I still own mine, but really need to play with it again (too much gear). In his review, it feels like Fremer just couldn’t be bothered with such a "middle-class priced" piece of gear. He got the sonic signature right, at least - it’s definitely a "warm, big sound", like a few of us have been saying for a while. But you can certainly tweak this with endless tube-rolling combinations, which again he couldn’t be bothered with.

He made a speculative recommendation against pairing to warm cartridges, but once again he couldn’t be bothered to actually try it. For MC, he only used a Cadenza Black. Many years ago I had its predecessor Jubilee MC, and it was too dry for me. I’ve used the Trumpet MC with Benz LPS and Koetsu Coralstone, both of which are definitely warm, and they sound WONDERFUL on this stage - against Fremer’s speculative recommendation. While the result was warm (duh, lol) I didn’t feel the top-end response was too rolled off or shelved. I had Telefunkens in the 12AX7 slots for this. The LPS is particularly tough to drive with tubes, since it doesn’t pair well to SUTs. But the Hagerman did it right. Many high-end tube phono stages will fall short there. 

The Trumpet’s manual writing and stock tube selection are simply not going to be as carefully procured as with a 5 or 6-figure phono stage.

@lewm is correct!

FYI: 5914, 5963,6189 and ECC82 are all replacements for the 12AU7 tube!!

It’s semantics, but tube data sheets show 0.35 A heater current (parallel) for 5814, versus 0.30 A for 12AU7. They’re close enough it will never cause a problem for gear. 12BH7 is another matter. Its heater draws 0.6 A, so that will work in some components but not others. I find 12BH7 generally sounds better than 12AU7. But when you don’t have the PSU overhead for its heaters, I do like the 5814 sub. GE triple mica gray plate "5 star" 5814A are nice, but on the warm side. 

EDIT: Oops, I thought someone had mentioned 12BH7 here. Must’ve been another thread. Anyways, check heater current and pin compatibility on any 12AU7 subs. 6189 is another that’s definitely fine in all circumstances. 5963 too (RCA black plates are nice).

@mulveling

It’s semantics, but tube data sheets show 0.35 A heater current (parallel) for 5814, versus 0.30 A for 12AU7. They’re close enough it will never cause a problem for gear.

Yep, which is why I was willing to try the CBS Hytron’s. I am quite impressed with them for the $$. Really opened-up the Trumpet throughout the mids and highs, more ‘air’ was immediately noticed compared to the Brimar’s. And, with the Tele’s really changed the overall Trumpet presentation. Maybe too much of a good thing. I’m actually toying with the idea of getting 2 Mullards to pair with my 2 Telefunken’s. For some reason, I’m thinking that may be an interesting combo. I put in 2 of the stock Mullards, and think older Mullard’s just may work.

Fun with tubes.

Good to hear you still have your Trumpet. It was your glowing reviews that pushed me in the Trumpets direction.

Greetings 

I’m fortunate to have both types of phono preamps in my system. One tube and two SS.

I enjoy both of them and listen to both daily. I lean more towards the tube phono preamp. There is always a plus and minus to both forms.

P‘If you can get both types. Or as the years go by  you might eventually have both types in your system.

‘Enjoy your music no matter what kind of system you have.

Joe Nies