Help me decide on phono preamp

Read some more on the Chinook. Many threads on tube rolling. Leads me to a couple of questions:

What is the typical lifespan of tubes? How do you know when they are going bad?

A number of tube threads on phono preamps relate to “noisy” tubes.  Is this an issue with noise emanating from the tube itself or noise in the signal and heard through the speakers?

Is there an issue with the stock Chinook tubes?  There are a lot of threads about swapping tubes to improve sound/ performance. Is this something I should plan on having to do eventually, ie stick tubes are Chevys not Porsches? 

My only tube experience is with my guitar amps where the mfg uses very basic tubes but there is meaningful  sonic changes with aftermarket tubes. However these are usually fairly inexpensive ( $60 total cost) compared to some tubes recommended for Chinook ($500-$800). I would expect the choice by Manley (6922’s) would have optimized their design performance goals.

Thoughts? 

Preamp tubes last for years. I prefer tubes to solid state in the phono preamp and never had any noise problems. As a matter of fact my tube phono preamp is dead quiet!

Well I managed to find a good deal on a gently used Chinook and picked it up this morning. I plan to try it out later this week at my beach house where I have a second system.  I will also try to compare it to both the internal phono stage in my Marantz as well as a Nova Phonomena.  I hope I will hear a meaningful improvement in SQ that justifies the price.

Hello, SJTM!  I'm wondering how your comparison worked out?  I did the same comparison last year, and it was a hands-down no-brainer - Chinook won by a mile!  Did you have the same experience?

To your question about tubes, I rolled in some Tungsram PC88 and it seemed to really wake things up.  Clearer, more "tuneful", and overall better tone.  I tried a few others, and these are my favorites, at least for now.  Rolling tubes is like picking your favorite ice cream.  It's all good!  But, sometimes you just want a touch of butter pecan.

Never ended up comparing to the Nova and not sure there is much in the way of scientific evaluation in my comparison to the built in phono stage in the Marantz. The Marantz was evaluated by reviewers ( Absolute Sound among others) as having an exceptionally good phonostage. The Chinook elevated the listening experience of my system to another level. I was so impressed that I jumped on the opportunity to buy a Chinook SE  that had a significant tube upgrade by the previous owner. This made a still more revealing enhancement to the clarity and richness of my setup. I will use the original Chinook in my main system ( although, since I am  finding lots of excuses for extended weekends at the beach houses, I suppose I should consider this my main system).

Time to put the Nova up for sale.