Mordante, no worries. FWIW, though, I don't think people buy our stuff because its tubes. They seem to be buying because its transparent and neutral. Also, the preamps were designed as stand-alone phono reproducers. They have the bare minimum to make them work with Aux sources.
The big issue that you run into with phono preamps in their own chassis is the connectivity that is introduced in getting the signal from the phono preamp to the line section. The problem is that if not controlled, the interconnect cable can be a major contributor to artifact in the system. So if you want to do it right the output of the phono stage should be designed to control the cable.
I have yet to see any phono section that does that.
If you have the phono section in the same chassis with the line section, this problem is overcome.
It apparent that most people do not realize that one of the functions of the preamp is to control the artifact in the cable (that is why the balanced line system was developed). If the balanced standards are followed, the cable will have no artifact at all. But most high end manufacturers are not cognizant of these facts so as a result, despite being balanced you still hear cable differences with their gear!
