Passive series RIAA EQ circuit, then? Zero AC feedback (no explicit feedback other than intrinsic degeneration, but DC feedback (just cathode R's) to stabilize the bias point? Anything special in the circuit (would you be willing to share the schematic)? No plans to build anything like this, maybe when (if) I retire, just curious. Or maybe just jealous, looks like a nice project!
Have you ever piddled with a MC stage? I did, ages ago, but never quite got a tube version I really liked. I tried nuvistors, several different triodes, a pentode or two, parallel triodes, etc.