What is a better route, tube or SS preamp?


Hi everyone! I recently unloaded all of my home theatre gear, and am concentrating on a 2 channel stereo system. So far I have a shanling cd-80, a naim 150 amp, Martin logan aerius loudspeakers, and a carver ct-17 preamp. I'm looking to replace the preamp, however, I'm not sure wether I should go solid state or tube. I know I need to demo some of both, but I wanted some opinions or if anyone has prior experience in this matter. Right now my amp is a SS and my cd has tube output. Everything sounds pretty good, but I want it to sound great!
Also, I will mostly be listening to a lot of hard rock and heavy metal, but also a lot of classic rock as well..
Lastly, I am aware of the amp input impedance and preamp output impedance ratio for both tube and SS. Is there anything else I should consider when pairing an amp and preamp?
Any help would be much appreciated!
Thanks everyone!
bstevens
I like tube pre to solid state amps myself!mrmitch and wolf_grcia,I was a musician myself,yes,one of those club touring hair metal bands!,as the singer,I suppose I know what live music sounds like!cheers!
And here you guys thought all that hair was to look cool. It was to insulate their ears against Marshall amps on a volume of 11.
I agree with Audiolabyrinth. Tube preamp to solid state amplifier is great sounding. I own same. CODA 10.5r solid state amp mated to Cary Audio SLP98L tube preamp. Just make sure you don't combine a direct-coupled preamp with direct-coupled solid state amplifier. That can cause problems in the future. Spend the money on good NOS (new old stock) preamp tubes.