The "classic" tube RIAA circuits were... not good. At least if you want objectively good performance. Insufficient open loop gain for good conformance to the RIAA curve and low distortion, heavy loading of the circuit by the RIAA network, high input capacitance.
The MC preamp I published at diyAudio ("His Master's Noise") used a D3a and ECC88-family tubes for gain, as well as a balanced input transformer. The MM stage I published in Linear Audio ("The Equal Opportunity") used ECC88-family for gain.
The MC preamp I published at diyAudio ("His Master's Noise") used a D3a and ECC88-family tubes for gain, as well as a balanced input transformer. The MM stage I published in Linear Audio ("The Equal Opportunity") used ECC88-family for gain.