First, let me say that I haven't heard your phono stage or preamp, but from your description of events, it appears your system became flat, uninvolving, and lost its timing when you replaced your Naim pieces with tube gear, so I'm wondering why would you conclude that the problem is with the turntable, cartridge, or tonearm.
For what it's worth, in my limited exposure to tube gear, no, I've never heard a tube-based setup that I was happy with, whether using my LP12 or a Well Tempered Record Player. Years ago I tried conrad-johnson and McIntosh tube gear, and found the original Naim Nait far more involving to listen to. I eventually settled on the then-new Linn LK1/LK2 package and enjoyed it for almost 20 years. Recently, I brought home some tube gear that a local audio dealer was excited about and found it far less enjoyable than my much more modestly-priced Audio by Van Alstine solid state equipment.
You may well find a turntable package you like better with your current gear, but it could also be that you need electronics with temporal capabilities a little closer to what you had with Naim. By the way, how long did you use Linn and Naim together? You said your LP12 came stock with the 9CC arm, so I'm thinking you can't be that much older than when you started.
For what it's worth, in my limited exposure to tube gear, no, I've never heard a tube-based setup that I was happy with, whether using my LP12 or a Well Tempered Record Player. Years ago I tried conrad-johnson and McIntosh tube gear, and found the original Naim Nait far more involving to listen to. I eventually settled on the then-new Linn LK1/LK2 package and enjoyed it for almost 20 years. Recently, I brought home some tube gear that a local audio dealer was excited about and found it far less enjoyable than my much more modestly-priced Audio by Van Alstine solid state equipment.
You may well find a turntable package you like better with your current gear, but it could also be that you need electronics with temporal capabilities a little closer to what you had with Naim. By the way, how long did you use Linn and Naim together? You said your LP12 came stock with the 9CC arm, so I'm thinking you can't be that much older than when you started.