low output mc: noise free listening possible?

I agree with the above but the difference between a well designed tube and SS unit will only be a bit of tube hiss. It will be at a level that you have to get your ear pretty close to the speaker to hear so I see it as a non-issue.

It depends. The preamp gain, speaker and amplifier sensitivity all come into play. I have a 0.24mV cartridge playing through a 66 db gain SS phono stage, which used to be enough. Then I sold my ARC preamp and BAT amp and bought an VAC integrated amp.....now, it's not enough gain.
Same catridge, same phono stage and speakers, different results. When considering noise free listening, it's not just the cartridge and phono stage, but the entire system that comes into play.

Cheers,
John

The Aqvox is one that you should have on your list. Balanced inputs and outputs contribute to a very low noise presentation with fully adjustable gain between 60-75 db for low output MC.

It's dead quiet with my Denon 103R.

It is a myth that balanced outperforms SE in a home environment. While I have no doubt you have very low noise, you can do just as well with a well designed single ended unit.

I'm now listening to the following setup:

cartridge: Allaerts MC2 Finish
phono: Blue Amp model 42
amplifier: Marlk Levionson 383
speakers: Sonus Faber Amati

This setup generates quit a lot of noise. At a fair, but firm listening level the system noise is much larger than vinyl noise.
Is it the phono or the sytem that generates this noise?