There are likely improvements to be had with the better external phono stages but I've stayed the course with the C1100 stage to date even as I've graduated to more expensive cartridges and SUT's (Air Tight Opus-1 on it's way).
I've found it to be a significant upgrade over the C500P I owned previously in this regard and the noise floor is remarkably low. You also have 60db of gain and generous MC load alternatives to accommodate a range of cartridges. I'd have to dig for the AA thread around the time of the introduction of the C1100 but Ron C from McIntosh commented that it was their best stage yet.
Many external phono stages that deliver wonderful performance otherwise can add significant noise and you would be adding additional interconnects into the signal path which would have to be overcome by the perceived improvement of the new stage. I haven't experimented with NOS tubes but would echo the suggestion that you spend some time with the internal stage first and experiment with tuning the sound via different cartridges and/or SUT's (which also offer high signal to noise ratios) before you make a big investment in an external stage. This approach would also better guide your priorities for an external stage if that's where you land.
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