Ssssh, is your tube preamp really that quiet?

ARC sp16 is very quiet when all tubes are working well. One might be hard pressed to know it is a tube device just listening. Surprises me in that regard all the time.

Phono section is a tougher beast to keep quiet, but it is not a problem with the right especially quiet tube in slot 1.

When choosing tubes, for a pre or phono section; it's
imperative to seek out those that are tested, and certified,
for that purpose(Low Noise). Of course; your provider has to
know how to properly screen valves. ie: Upscale Audio (
https://www.upscaleaudio.com/pages/Testing-Small-Signal-
Tubes.html ) However; when you crank your volume to full,
the pre might not only let you hear tube microphonics, but
anything that interconnects, or empty inputs, may be picking
up(ie: EMI/RFI). If there's a phono section ahead of it;
it's noise is amplified/compounded.

With my McIntosh C2300 with Tele smooths in the MC stage I only here tube rush with volume on +75 (out of 100). The line stage is hush quiet.

In my instance, the tube noise is through my phono stage, however, the line stage also exhibits some noise. The tubes are rolled in NOS from Kevin at Upscale and are supposedly the lowest noise he stocks! They do sound great, BUT they are audible as the gain increases ( not as I stated with music playing).
I'm really surprised that this isn't a factor with all tube preamps...particularly IF they include a phono stage and therefore are providing high gain.
BTW, I used to own an ARC SP10Mk2 and the problem was even worse. Interesting that an SP16 is very quiet....perhaps that's due to the hybrid nature of the SP16??

No all-tube phono section is perfectly quiet. But a lot has to do with what cartridges it can work with and whether it has an SUT or not.

If we use an SUT with our preamp the noise is not an issue with any cartridge. If no SUT then when you turn up the volume some hiss is audible.

A surprising number of manufacturers that are otherwise all-tube will use a semiconductor as the first stage of gain.

The real issue has to do with the surface noise on the LP. If the phono section is louder than the surface of the LP then you have a problem. If not, if the surface noise of the LP is the dominant background noise, you have no worries.