Very salient points thanks all.
I'm going to keep an eye out for a used MW Phono Stage, sounds like it'll be up my alley. For the record (hehe) I'm not opposed to warm tone from my phono stage, it's just that with the tubes I had incorporated into the Trumpet MC and the cartridge it was too mid heavy.
Well I had a lengthy listening session last night, and beforehand I was surprised to find a pair of Sylvania 12au7s I had forgotten about so I put those into the front-most row on the Trumpet and a BIG improvement in openness. Also I have added the SBooster to mine and yes, a worthy move.
So in short I'm going to buy some more open sounding tubes and experiment further. The sound of the Hagerman is outstanding, of course I haven't tried something much more expensive but aside from @medium_grade who here has tried the Hagerman? I suspect once I arrive at the right tube set I'm going to be satisfied. The elevated noise floor isn't that bad truthfully.