Some phono enthusiasts prefer audio equipment with vacuum tubes. I’m also fascinated by these “old” equipment, but did not build a tube amplifier or preamplifier by myself. While the circuits usually are quiet simple, most of the performance of tube amplifiers come from the realisation. The grounding concept or the placement of transformers can make the difference between a great and a bad amplifier – even with exactly the same circuit.
If you still think, that you want to build your own phono preamplifier based on tubes and even want to use it for very low MC signals, check out this project: MC/MM phono preamp. Even if you can’t understand the german text, the pictures of the mechanical construction are worth a look
