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Is the "ground plane" in this case literally a sheet of copper that you run all the grounds to? If so, this may be overkill on the one hand and an antenna/noise magnet/generator on the other hand, and/or it may well make for ground loops. It is usually sufficient to have a ground "bus" that is not connected to the chassis, and this goes out on the neutral wire. Parts should not directly touch the copper sheet or the chassis; stand them off mechanically and electrically. The chassis and your IC shields can use the "dedicated" ground. The "house" ground is lifted at the chassis/not used for the phono stage. You are using shielded IC, right? Bleed the shields from the upstream end only (and leave the downstream end loose; do not ground shields at both ends...).

Good luck.

Best regards,
Paul

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