Tube Preamp Paired with Tube Phono Stage?

Actusreus, if Fremer is not 'full of it', he was hearing those differences due to issues with the **phono section(s)** rather than the cartridges. 47K, 100 ohms, the cartridge does not care. I run my cartridges (Transfiguration Orpheus, ZYX Universe) at 47k with no worries, can't really tell the difference if I use 100 ohms. But our stuff is stable in the presence of Radio Frequency energy, which is in fact what this is about.

Jonathan Carr's comments can be trusted regardless of the LOMC.

You are partially correct with your summary in your last post. The entire summary should read: "So to summarize, it depends on the preamp."

To run a complete tube fronted is no problem, it depends on the quality (as
usual). There are differences.
Cartridge loading discussions were endless, are endless and will be endless...
To make it short, to dampen a cartridge means, you reduce their headroom,
47kΩ is 'open', you can hear the cart purest, the way it was made, when
your System is not up to the task to handle that (and most can't), you can
dampen it down (some say it has to be done based on high frequency
distortions but that is wrong). With one of the better Phono Stages you can hear
it easily when you step down from 47kΩ it always becomes more slow
and dull (but honestly a lot of Systems need that, the wonder word is:
Compensation, with Cables you can do the same)
To design a Phonostage which is silent, not sensitive to hum or other
influences, probably with higher gain (62dB and more) AND finally has to sound
like music and not dead and lifeless (most do) ---> this is VERY difficult to do ,
the Designer really needs knowledge about that chapter. In the last 15 years I
only heard 3 Phonostages which were able to solve that
- Klyne Phono 7
- Atma-Sphere
- J. Curl Vendetta
All the other countless designers will find endless reasons why their units run
best with 100Ω or 125Ω or 165,37Ω or 358.5Ω -:) but at
the end of the day, they can't do it better. It is the way it is.
Marketing can replace knowledge [and does of course and when it is repeated
countless times, it becomes ---> A Fact :-)]
Years ago a lot of cartridge manufacturers wrote in their datas: recommended
loading 47kOhm (Benz for example)....with the result, that the customers
tortured their dealers that their Phonostages were not able to run with
47kΩ (or they sounded simply awful with this setting, Levinson, XONO and
so on), and they didn't buy the cartridge.
No deal is the worst deal for a 'Dealer'
Now we have in the manuals: Recommended loading 100Ω -47kΩ
The problem is solved now.
That's High End :-)

If the Chinook is anything like the Steelhead, it will benefit immensely by
upgrading the tubes. In the Steelhead, I found the NOS tele to sound the
best in the 6922 slot. Try rolling the 7044's also, they aren't as expensive, i
think a pair of good raytheons were 95 bucks a pair. (Not sure if the
chinook uses the same tube complement as the Steelhead).
I've used tube preamps, line stages and amps since 1973- more modern
tube stuff is not the lush sounding stuff that most people associate with
tubes. Indeed, the Steelhead doesn't really sound like a tube unit at least
with the stock tubes (again assuming the Chinook has a similar character).
I am temporarily using a Joule line stage while I wait for my Lamm hybrid
line stage to get repaired and the Joule is reminescent of older style tube
preamps, very romantic, but suprisingly robust bass. It is a little too lush for
my taste with SET amps, but part of it, as you recognize by your question,
is system matching.
enjoy the chinook. Eva Manley is a stand up woman.

PS, again, not sure the Chinook is the same as the Steelhead in this
respect but I liked going into the MM input at 47k rather than through the
autoformers with both a Lyra Titan i and my Airtight PC1. Interestingly, my
new phono stage, an Allnic H 3000 is all about the step up transformers,
and there, the Airtight is sounding great. FWIW, when I ran the Steelhead, I
liked it just as a phono stage, with a separate line stage, and not 'straight
in'- it sounded a little too hi-fi straight in, and adding the line stage gave it
more dimension and palpability. Maybe just adding more distortion, I did
discuss this with Eva Manley at one point, who advocated a 'less is better'
approach, but to my ears, and extropolating my experience with the
Steelhead to the Chinook (FWIW), adding the line stage gave me more of
what my system needed to fully appreciate the Steelhead's strengths.
Have fun.
That, in the end, should be what it's about (although you'll catch me cursing
like a longshoreman sometimes when things go wrong with the system) :)

My experience is as per Lewm's and Syntax. I run MC's into 47k tube preamp, Marantz 7 modded, which although it is only 60db TOTAL gain, can easily handle MC's 0.3mv up with no noise. I also had a Klyne 7 which seems to emulate tube pre's in that it is designed to run mostly 47k and use very high frequency contour filters to handle the resonances. I found 47k plus filters at around 50k plus were the go.
The Klyne has been despatched as it was easily outperformed by both the Marantz and my tweaked Theta tube preamp from the 80's.
I have generally found that the MC's with very low internal impedance such as Koetsu's ( 3 ohm ) etc run fine into 47k but have occasionally had issues with MC's with higher internal impedances such as Denon 103D ( 40ohms ) and Benz ( 40 ohms ).
I have a gut feel that the lower impedance MC's in general will do better into 47k.

Syntax,
That's a pretty bold statement that only those four phono preamps got it right given the many reputable brands out there. How many different units have your actually heard to make such a definitive finding? I'm by no means being critical of your statement, but simply curious how you reached it.

Speaking of the preamps you mentioned, do you know who distributes Klyne or how one can get more information about where you can audition one? The Klyne website has no contact or dealer information, which I find rather disappointing and unprofessional considering the target market.

Regarding the Atma-Sphere preamp, it appears there is no a stand-alone phono unit, but it's a built-in phono stage in one of the preamplifiers. Is that correct?

I'm also curious whether you heard the JC-3 preamp, which was compared favorably to the Vendetta by I believe Art Dudley in Stereophile not a long while ago. Your (and others') comments regarding the 47k ohm load also compel me to ask if this is purely a function of how good the preamp is, why do designers refer to the cartridge's design as the determinative factor, or flat out state something diametrically different? Here is a quote from the JC-3's description:
"MM 47 k ohm, MC 100 ohm or MC 47 k ohm; (MC 47 k ohm is ideal for high-end Grado moving iron cartridges)."
From the $26,000 Boulder 2008's manual:
"In the MC position, the maximum input resistance is 1,000Ω without additional components installed on the card. All four of the cards are shipped with a resistor to bring the impedance down to 100Ω, which is recommended for MC."

Are you saying Boulder claims their unit runs best at 100Ω because "they can't do it better"?