the only reason I raised the issue of Johnson noise was in response to a question about whether any tube-based phono stages are quiet enough for hiss to be inaudible when one’s ear is placed against the speaker, while a record is not being played. And my response was to the effect that for typical combinations of system gains, sensitivities, and volume control settings theoretical limitations might come into play which could make that impossible, or close to it.*If* the phono section has sufficient overload margin yet still has plenty of gain (60dB) and a stepup transformer, you can get so much output out of the phono section that the noise floor of the line section will obscure that of the phono section- such that switching between Aux inputs and phono will not have an audible change to the noise floor even with your ear pressed to the loudspeaker drivers. I've demonstrated exactly this at shows.
Phono Preamp Tube Rush
Is there such a thing as a tube phono stage that doesn't have tube rush? Is it just an inherent weakness of that type of pre or is it some combination of cartridge gain and preamp gain? I went from a silent solid state ASR Basis Exclusive to a Herron VTPH-2A (new home with space limitations) and now I'm using a Hagerman Trumpet with my Decca London Super Gold. Both the Herron and Hagerman have tube rush. The Hagerman beats the Herron in my setup and it really sounds incredible but in quiet passages and between songs, there's that hiss at high-medium and high volume. It's just there. No combination of new tubes, new cables, etc changes this fact. Same with the Herron. Anyone having a different experience with a tube phono preamp?