Thinking about buying a different tube preamp...

If you can find a used Atma-Sphere MP-3 you should be able to pick one up for that price. Dual outputs are available and the phono section is entirely balanced-differential.

FWIW it sounds like the amp has too much gain.

You should not have to insert a passive control to set things right- and don't think for a minute that passive controls don't have an effect! If you can eliminate it you will get more immediacy and more impact.

We use tube preamps on speakers that have a good 12 db more efficiency than yours with no problems. So its my opinion that you have a matching problem or a noise problem at the input of the amp.

Did the Jolida have noise without the passive??

OK- my surmise was correct- you have a lot of gain with that amp. If you want the Modwight to work you will have to hand-pick the 6SN7s for low noise. This should not be that challenging- we use 6SN7s in all of our line stages and can get them to be nice and quiet on speakers that are much more efficient than yours!

I would also listen to the character of each preamp and see which you prefer. Generally speaking I find that I like 6SN7-based circuits better as they are usually smoother without lacking detail. But that is not always the case so you will want to play them and see which you like other than the noise.

If the Modwright comes out on top then you might want to consider some boutique tubes for it- hand picked by Andy at Vintage Tube Services or maybe Sophia or TJ Music tubes; Kevin at Upscale is a good source too. However you do it the tubes should be returnable if there is a problem.

Have fun! but don't drive yourself nuts- different tubes sound different and some people go right down the rabbit hole with this and trust me on this one, its not worth it! You want to solve the problem you have and spend the money left over that you didn't spend on 50 other types of tubes just getting more tunes to play :)

You should be aware that just because a tube is new does not mean it will be quiet or low microphonics. Tubes in premium gear almost always have to be hand-picked, despite what you pay for them.

So you got one Sophia that was noisy- send it back and see if the next one is better.